About Me

I’ve had this blog for three years now, so I figured I should actually put some information on this page.

I was raised in El Nido, California. I grew up on a dairy farm, where I received my black belt in the ancient art of Portuguese Shovel Fighting, because nothing motivates a Holstein to move its fat ass into the milk barn like a good shovel on the snout. El Nido was a tiny little town, where the cows far outnumbered the people. There’s not a whole lot of interest in El Nido, so I read a lot of books and I shot a lot of guns. (as you will see, these two things will be a theme in my life).

Looking back, I suppose I would describe myself as a geeky, fat kid. Ironically, I was also strong as an ox because I had to hoist bales of hay every day, but when you drink a gallon of extra-whole-super-plus-fat milk direct from the tank daily, (all you can drink, and it’s sorta free!) you do tend to chub up. So rather than play a lot of sports, I preferred to read books. I was that one kid that always had a book in my hands and was usually reading at recess instead of actually doing stuff.

It was my mom that installed a love of reading in me. My dad considered reading fiction a complete waste of time, since reading time should be devoted to information related to important things, like cows or tractors. But I was a voracious reader. I read everything I could find. El Nido had a tiny library, and by the time I was about twelve I had read everything there. Two hours on the school bus everyday gives you plenty of extra reading time.

The first author I loved was Louis L’Amour. I kept one of his index pages and checked off every book as I read it. Eventually I got them all. There was just something heroic about those that caught my imagination. The first real fantasy novel I ever read was Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. Somebody my mom knew had picked it up at a yard sale. It was amazing. After that I discovered Raymond E. Feist and David Eddings, whole new worlds opened, and I knew that I wanted to write fantasy. I started writing little stories in my school notebooks. I even illustrated them with dragons and swords and lots of explosions, because why the hell not? The other kids loved them, and suddenly I discovered that I was good at making crap up to entertain people. It would be another twenty-five years before I discovered that I could actually make money at it.

The first sci-fi I was introduced to was John Dalmas, and from there I went on a crazed spiral of reading everything possible. I polished off Dune when I was about ten. Mom didn’t believe me. She had to read it herself and then give me a quiz. I passed. She was impressed.

Besides cow hoisting and hay tossing, I was also our farm’s pest eradicator. Squirrels and rabbits would burrow into our irrigation ditches, and then when you ran water down them, they would break and flood the roads. Nothing prevents this quite like shooting the little buggers. Basically, I shot a lot of animals growing up. As farmers, you had your good years and your bad years. I remember one Christmas where all my presents were a new pair of work gloves and a brick of .22 shells. No matter how poor we got, there was always an ammo budget.

I loved shooting. It wasn’t really the hunting aspect. I didn’t enjoy killing animals, but it was part of my job and I was really good at it. You see, killing animals was where food came from, and for me that was work, not fun. For farm kids, raising a calf, giving it a name, and taking care of it like a sort of giant bovine pet was perfectly normal. And then one day you shot your pet in the brain, hung it up, and cut it into steaks. It really helps keep that whole circle of life thing in perspective. I don’t think city kids or suburbanites really grasp it.

Rather, shooting was about the interaction between me and the weapon. If I did what I was supposed to do, then this mechanical marvel would do what it was supposed to do. It was remarkable. It was fun. I loved guns. I still do. I’m a gun-geek.

Life was tough. Like I said, there were good years and bad years. A string of bad years were a real challenge for everyone.

We lost the farm. My dad wanted to try and start over somewhere where land and hay was cheaper. My family moved to Utah. I was the oldest and my dad and I were at that stage that many young men reach with their fathers where they really want to murder each other. I stayed in California. I was a junior in high school. At the time my plan was to go to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Moving to Utah was stupid. Why would anyone want to move to Utah?

I moved to Delta, Utah, and back in with my family, half way through my senior year in high school. I had a good excuse though. I was from El Nido, but I went to high school in Merced. Merced, California is a decent enough place, but at the time they had a bit of a gang problem. I don’t know if they still do, because I avoid going back to California like the plague. But either way, one of our local “youth groups” had an initiation that required them to jump and beat the crap out of some random schlub who didn’t even know what was going on. Guess who the random schlub was? Yep. Wrong place. Wrong time.

So I got my jaw dislocated and a concussion. Their plan of walking up to an unsuspecting doofus and clubbing him over the head and then mudstomping him was brilliantly executed. Except for one little thing. Remember that part about hoisting cows daily? (farm kids are strong) Well, it didn’t work out too well for the Youth Group, and three of the four of them that attacked me ended up injured, and one of them rather severely. (head wounds bleed a lot!) All of a sudden, I had a whole bunch of really pissed off gang bangers who decided that it was rather embarrassing to have four of their little homies beat up by a fat country kid, and I needed to be taught a lesson. Said lesson would probably involve putting bullets into my vital organs.

Plus, my personal stash of college-money steers contracted tetanus and most of them died. It was gross and sad. Kids, get those tetanus shots! Trust me on this one… It ain’t pretty. I even looked to the military as a career path and way to pay for my education. However, Bill Clinton was our new president and was in the process of gutting everything. The recruiters were kind of ho-hum, and then they shot me right the heck down when we got to the part where I had severe allergies, asthma, and extremely flat feet. (no really, I’ve got the worst you’ve ever seen. I’ve had podiatrists ask to take pictures of them).

So… Utah was sounding better and better.

The thing was, I actually really liked Utah. I was kind of surprised. Sure, I’d visited, and the people always seemed friendly enough, but I found that I was actually really comfortable there. Sure, it was populated by a bunch of weird Mormons, (I was raised Catholic) but it was just my kind of place. Everyone was literate and liked guns. Plus, California was becoming increasingly odd, with wacky socialists in charge of everything… (remember the part about being a reader? Yeah, I read Das Kapital for fun when I was a teenager. Even as a kid I could see how ridiculous that philosophy was) I checked out Utah State University on a whim, and ended up getting an excellent scholarship offer. It was kind of a no brainer.

At USU I lived in a tiny room ( I think it was originally a pantry) in a hundred and fifteen year old house with a bunch of goofy yet great roommates. It would have made a good sitcom. I got a job at the campus bookstore, but sadly, didn’t get to work with the fun books in the fiction section. Oh no… I worked with textbooks… Gah. What a racket. (and college students, yes, you’re getting ripped off, but don’t blame the bookstore employees. They’re making peanuts!) It was also during this period of working with professors that I lost every last bit of respect I’d ever had for academics. Most of them were dumber than a sack of hammers, but extremely proud of the fact that they had a bunch of degrees and had never held a real job.

I know when most authors look back at their college years, it is to remember with fondness of all the awesome debauchery and beer pong, but I kind of went the other direction. For fun I played role playing games and started taking karate classes. I worked hard, held down multiple jobs, and strangely enough, got religious for the first time in my life. I went through a period where I started examining my personal beliefs and philosophies, because I was a strange young man. I had made some good Latter Day Saint friends, and I had enough respect for them that I decided to listen to their spiel.

It clicked. For the first time in my life, I found something that made sense for me, and that I believed in. I converted to Mormonism, and only later found out that I’d only get one wife. (only joking, we haven’t done that since the 1890s, plus who am I kidding, at the time I couldn’t even keep a steady girlfriend). Because I’m the kind of guy that can’t do anything half way, I volunteered to go on an LDS mission. Apparently God has a great sense of humor, so I was sent to Alabama.

You know the dudes on bikes, with the white shirts and ties? Yep. That was me. I did that. I like to think I was pretty good at it too. Well, as good as somebody that looked like a young, hulking, terrifying James Gandolfini could be expected to do in a field where you randomly go up and talk to complete strangers. I know that the vast majority of folks who read my books and my blog aren’t the same religion as me, and that’s totally cool, but all that I’d ask is please be at least courteous to those kids. It is a tough job. And they’re unpaid volunteers who’re trying to do what they think is the right thing. Don’t point guns at them. Don’t run them off the road. Don’t fling beer bottles at them as you pass by (you have no idea how much that hurts!). If you’re not interested, just give them a polite no.

I did fall in love with the South though. I had one assignment where I spent four months living out of a car and driving from small town to small town across Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi, so I saw a lot of country. The South is a wonderful place, and I decided that southerners get a bad rap. People ask me why MHI is set in the South, and that’s why. Southerners get screwed in fiction. They’re portrayed as hicks, racists, and illiterates. In real life they’re proud, heroic, smart, hard working, good people. So I made MHI a Southerncentric organization.

So after two years of soul-crushing humidity, (how do you guys do it?) it was back to Utah, where I buckled down and started working toward my accounting degree. Why accounting? Because I got to know a couple of FBI agents really well when I was in Alabama, and I decided that sounded like an interesting job. It was like being a nerdy version of Batman. At the time, you either needed to be an accountant or lawyer, (both of which sounded boring as hell, but getting a CPA was cheaper than going to law school), so I decided that was what I would do. Besides, I couldn’t make a living with writing or guns, right?

Speaking of guns, the incident that would turn me from a casual recreational shooter into a hard-core tactical riot-nerd occurred around this same time. Without going into a lot of details, I was a witness to a very bad person doing something crazy, and the resulting aftermath where he then decided to try and kill an innocent person. I retrieved a gun and intervened. I didn’t shoot anyone, but I was about half a second from pulling the trigger on another human being. Everything worked out, but when I took stock afterward, I realized that I’d blundered my way through a violent encounter, made a ton of stupid mistakes, and there were a hundred other ways that the situation could have played out where I would have gotten killed. I had been lucky.

It was a sobering event, and I decided that if I was going to have guns, I was going to learn how to use the damn things. I started seeking out every knowledgeable person I could, and every time I could scrape together the money, I took another class. This was also how I stumbled into the dawn of the internet gun culture, which would go on to play an important part of my life. I found out many years later that the bad guy I was prepared to shoot that day had gone on to be deported three times before eventually murdering a cop. There are bad people in the world, and they’ll hurt you, just because they can.

So after working a summer at a horrible cheese factory, and getting fired for reporting them to the health inspectors for knowingly shipping shredded cheese with broken glass in it (long story), I returned to Logan, Utah. The very first day back I was visiting my old roommates, when this girl came in and said “Oh, hi, Larry. Welcome back” like she knew me. She was hot. I mean, she was so gorgeous she took my breath away. She acted like she had known me from before I’d left for Alabama, but I was certain I would have remembered her. Her name was Bridget. I didn’t want to embarrass myself that I’d somehow forgotten this beautiful girl’s name, so I tried to be polite.

It turned out that we’d never met. She’d just thought it would be funny to embarrass me. She’d moved in down the street after I’d left and become friends with my old roommates. Bridget had heard so much about me, that she figured she’d just mess with me. It wouldn’t be the last time she’d mess with my head… Or my heart. (oh, man, I’m cheesy).

We talked. It turned out that she’d never shot a pistol before. I’d just bought a Browning Buckmark the day after I’d gotten back from Alabama. (kind of a welcome back present to myself), so I invited her to come along to the range. Somehow it turned into a date. Yes. Our first date was shooting. Appropriate, I know. We then went hiking and watched UFC. I know! This one was a keeper. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and extremely talented, while I was unemployed, homeless, balding, and ugly. Yet two days after we’d met, I knew that I was going to marry this girl. It took her longer to come around, nearly a whole week.

Yep. We were that couple. We’ve been married for twelve years now. She is still the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Ironically, she was also a Californian. And we’d grown up about 100 miles away from each other. Pre-mission, we’d lived only a few blocks apart, worked in the same building (where I bought food daily from the establishment she worked at), attended the same dances, she’d been best friends with one of my co-workers, and we’d even had Psych 101 together, yet we’d never once met that entire year before I’d left for Alabama. I’m pretty sure I would have remembered the nearly six-foot-tall Viking goddess that looked suspiciously like the Baroness from GI-Joe. (Yes, it is awesome to be me, thanks for asking).

Life sped along. We had our first child while still in college. That was a challenge. Full time jobs, full time school, and a baby… But we were badasses. None of that whining to mommy and daddy for us. I worked at the bookstore during the year, and did everything from Sprint customer service to providing Allstate rate quotes during the summers. My wife ran the international kitchen at the food court. She always volunteered to close because we were so poor that we lived off the leftovers she brought home.

At some point, I realized that working in federal law enforcement was probably not a good fit for somebody with “authority” issues and complete lack of faith in the federal government. So I applied for local law enforcement jobs. For those that have been through it, you know what a long, tedious, annoying process that is. I’d been graduated for several months before I was finally hired by the sheriff’s department that I really wanted to work for, and to celebrate, my wife and I spent actual monies and flew out to California to visit relatives. Of course, while we were there the sheriff’s department cut their budget and instituted a hiring freeze. Ooops.

So now I needed a job, quick. I had an accounting degree. I had never planned on being an accountant. I’d envisioned myself in a career with more ‘hitting’ in it. But a man’s got to feed his family. So I started applying. I was hired to be an “Associate Financial Analyst” for a Salt Lake branch of a giant fortune 500 company, where I could be a tiny cog in a machine. By the time the sheriff’s department started hiring again, I’d settled into my boring, but better paying, accounting job, and we’d just had our second child… So I decided to stick with accounting. It was sad, but it seemed like the responsible thing to do.

It turned out that I was actually a decent accountant. They dropped the Associate part from my title, and I got to do a lot of fun things, plus our factory made neat stuff for the music industry. I liked most of the people I worked with, but as the years went by, the company got bigger, and therefore dumber. There were layoffs, downsizing, and all manner of corporate foolishness. It became a game for management to think of ways to justify not giving raises, except for when I got other job offers, because then I was worth keeping around. (only two big raises I got where when I threatened to quit) After five years, I’d decided that the corporate world was a soul-sucking pit, designed to crush the human spirit. It was very depressing. That, and I hate cubicles.

To free my mind from the corporate BS of my day job, I started writing again. The first thing I wrote was a thriller. (don’t even ask to see it, because it sucked). After that, I decided I wanted to write a book about monster. I loved B-movies, only the protagonists were always stupid. How cool would it be to have a big B monster epic, only with smart protagonists?

During that time I kept on expanding my knowledge of gun stuff. I had become a Utah CCW instructor to supplement my income, and I was really good at it. Not to toot my own horn, but I’m a hell of a good teacher when it is something I enjoy. I shot a ton of competition, mostly IDPA and 3gun. Plus, I had started getting articles published in gun magazines. A friend of mine from the gun culture called me from Afghanistan. He said a few of the guys in his unit had been talking, and they wanted to go in together to open a gun store when they got home. I was the one person they knew that knew guns and could also do math.

So I became part owner of a gun store. I was living the dream. I said goodbye to Humungous Manic Group. Ironically the person they hired to replace me made 10K a year more than I did when I quit. That’s the corporate world for ya.

Small business ownership is an interesting thing. You’ve got a lot of freedom, but at the same time it is the biggest chain you could ever shackle yourself with. We grew from a tiny little space in the front of a boat shop with two employees, to a giant building with a bunch of staff and a full shop. We amassed an impressive collection of hardware, and I was able to participate in some really neat training opportunities. There were challenges, oh, so many challenges, but I’ll get to that.

I finished Monster Hunter International, and was surprised to find that it was actually pretty good. Most of the people I showed it to loved it. It was like when I was a kid, and I did the little fantasy stories complete with cartoon drawings, and people complimented me. That’s a surprisingly addictive feeling for a writer, and I bet many of us feel that same way. So I decided to try and get it published.

I started out the old fashioned way, query agents and publishers, submit according to the guidelines, wait, and collect rejections. MHI got shot down over and over and over and over again, all while everyone I showed it to really enjoyed it. I’m a businessman. I’m certainly not the sensitive artist type (you can’t work with Green Berets and Marines all day, and be “sensitive”). I knew about how many books a publisher needed to turn in order to make a profit. I knew from my own reading tastes, and the many people that I corresponded with on the internet that MHI could sell, but the publishing industry said no.

So screw the publishing industry. I decided to publish it myself. Self publishing is normally the kiss of death. It is where really crappy books, written by talentless hacks, go to die. But once again, I’m not the guy that can do anything half way. I used my aforementioned internet gun culture contacts to spread the word. I did an online serial with Mike Kupari that got over a hundred thousand hits. People knew I could write, so they lined up to buy the self published MHI. A fan of the serial got an early copy to pass along to his friend who owned a big indy bookstore (Uncle Hugos). I figured I needed to sell 500 to break even. Anything over that was gravy.

Uh… Yeah. A couple thousand copies and a spot on the Entertainment Weekly bestseller list later… Uncle Hugo introduced me to Baen, and all of a sudden, I had a publishing contract. I was an actual writer. Holy crap, that was unexpected.

Meanwhile, back in the land of small business ownership… I was fried. I was teaching a couple hundred people a month. I had been working 80 hours a week or more at my shop, and I’d gotten to the point where I was having some differences of opinion with the other owner about our direction. I was neglecting my wife and children. I was burned out, suffering from insomnia, and bringing that stress home. I’d poured a lot of effort into making the store a success. Selling my business was one of the hardest decisions I’d ever made, but I’m glad that I did. I made many good friends over those years and had many great opportunities. I wished them the best and moved on. A year later they’d gone out of business.

For the first time in my adult life, I was unemployed for more than a couple of days. Plus the economy had just tanked. I had a single book deal, but I was just starting out. It wasn’t enough to live off of. There were fifty qualified accountants applying for every job. It was kind of scary. So, to take my mind off of being unemployed, I wrote a couple more books. I’d later sell those too, so technically I can say that I’ve never been unemployed.

I found my current job through a series of flukes and coincidences. I’m now the finance manager with a defense contractor. I do like supporting the military. I just crunch numbers, but in a way I’m helping keep F-16s in the sky to rain fire on our enemies. Sweet! It is honestly the best job I’ve ever had. My boss has integrity. I run my side of things with a lot of freedom and it is very professional. I’m selling an ever increasing number of books, but I actually like my day job. Every time I get some new bit of good writing related news, I have to assure her that I’m not planning on quitting anytime soon.

The Baen version of MHI came out, and it was a surprising hit, even ending up on another bestseller list and getting killer reviews. It went through four printings in its first year, which is remarkable. I’ve since sold three more books to Baen, have fingers crossed on a fourth that I just sent in, and I’ve been asked to do another sci-fi series collaborating with powerhouse author, John Ringo.

The writing career has been going well. I am humbled by how awesome you folks reading this are. My readers never cease to amaze me. The Monster Hunter Nation is an impressive bunch. So, I’ll keep making crap up to entertain you, and in exchange you give me money, and tell your friends to give me money. It’s a win-win for everyone!

Bridget and I have more kids now. I don’t like to talk about my family a whole lot on my blog, not because I don’t love them, quite the opposite in fact, they’re the center of my universe, but because the internet is a strange place. But life is good for the Correia family. We’re in the process of building a house in the mountains and getting the heck out of the suburbs. If they’re lucky, I may get some cows for the children to have as pets, and then steak. It’s that whole circle of life thing, you know.

And that’s it for the About Me.

EDIT: Somebody pointed out that I’venot updated this for a couple of years. It has been really busy.

We had a 4th (surprise!) kid.

We moved from the suburbs out to a place that I lovingly call Yard Moose Mountain. We’re in a very small town in the mountains, and I love it.

I retired from my military contracting job, so now I’m a fulltime author. Which is good, because I’ve been crazy busy. My 10th novel will be out this summer, with 16 more under contract. My audiobooks have won two Audie Awards in a row, and my books are now in 7 languages.

Thanks Larry, no its not for sale its just a personal project. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to show it off but I just wanted your OK before I did it. Oh hell yeah I take some pics of it. Just email me an address and afterwards I get them to you. Thanks once again, zig.

Hey Larry, I preordered the book and recieved it a few days ago. Excellent stuff I really like it and am looking forward to your next book! No big deal but I was under the impression that all preordered books would also recieve a patch… No patch here, I’d love one but I’d really like a to see your next book more! Keep up the good work.
Tim
Airborne Medic

Sir my name is Levi but you can call me LT ,not the rank.
I just finished reading your latest I installment of the Chronicles of Hand and his time at MHI.
And damn if you ain’t an evil bastard haha!
But I am curious as to whom Hands girlfriend is/was and their daughter. Have you written about them ? Will we read about them in the future?
I apologize for the nature of this post as I am not savvy with blog posting and dont really know the ins and outs of navigating such things. So not unlike Bubba and Earl I went for the straight forward approach. Thanks for your time and keep writing kill it and get paid.

I didn’t get a patch either, but I don’t mind….damn good book 🙂 I managed to get one of my co-workers to buy a copy today, so at least your evil spreads to another generation (so to speak)! Write more books!

I just got my book this evening when I got home from work; I’m on page 111 already and I’m not sure that I can put it down in order to go to sleep tonight. By that sentiment, you have just joined, in my mind, the likes of David Weber, John Ringo, Roger MacBride Allen, Mercedes Lackey, Timothy Zahn, Laurell K. Hamilton, Eric Flint and Robert Heinlein, as ALL of those authors have caused me to lose sleep at one time or another over the years. I hate you… I need my sleep, darnit!!

When are you starting work on your next book?

BTW, I do have to say that when I read your blog and realized that MHI was a self-published book, I hesitated for a day or so. The last self-published book I bought – because I knew the author’s brother, who was a Lodge Brother of mine – was AWFUL. I read your first chapter, and that, combined with LawDog’s recommendation, caused me to make the right choice and purchase it. I intend to put my MHI patch on my shooting jacket right after I earn an Appleseed Rifleman patch for it.

Howdy. I’ve never heard of you, but a friend posted this on Facebook. I don’t know what upsets me more, the tantrums of a few, or the cowards who cave in. Either way, I’ll be picking up your work in support.

Just finished the book a couple of days ago. Damn good. Reason it took so long is I realized I was doing the same thing I did with the last Dresden book: didn’t want to finish it too soon, so kept only reading 20-30 pages.

If I may say, struck me as being something like the first Dresden book: obviously a first book, not just in the ‘more stories to come’ sense, but something about the style. Looking forward to another in Owen’s adventures.

Apparently HK ceased their training partnership with Blackwater because Blackwater might, gasp, MIGHT actually be using HK s in Iraq and Afghanistan. (BS according to some PMC the weapons being used by BW are provided through DSS and there are no HK in the group.)

You go. Or is it Hugo? Any way, you are doing great, and I am glad the living room is not papered in notices – who wants to live with that in your face every day? Can’t wait to see my Larry as a vampire . . .

Hey Larry, I’m the guy who bought the 6.8 stag with the shaved gas block (still waiting on it’s arrival BTW) can’t fault you for that though. I just wish Stag was more prompt with their shipments. Anyway, I’m really interested in buying your book, but I just think it would be a million times more convenient if you stocked them @ FBMG since it’s 3 min. from my house. Just a thought. I’d rather give you the $4 I’d be wasting on shipping, plus I could just get your autograph on it in the process. I’ve been reading your blog, great stuff, keep it up.

Just finished your book and wow, it was amazing. Your knowledge of weapons and tactics made the book for me as my years in the army make bad tactics like nails on a chalkboard. Continue writing as I am desperate for the adventures of MHI. A well worn copy of your book is now in circulation within my battalion, heck I think the top just finished it and wants one of those patches.

This is your cousin Timmy Correia from Atwater. How are you doing? Grandma told me you had a gun shop and I got online and found your picture. It’s been a long time since I’ve talked to you. I saw your brother when he picked up your dad’s RT. How is your mom and dad? Tell them I said hi. I heard your married and have kids, congratulations. Well if you have time email me back. Atikuws@yahoo.com

Is there any chance of you selling a copy or two of the book as an ebook? I’m willing to pay full price for it; I simply cannot find a UK-based seller of the book, try as I might, so paying for an ebook version in whatever format you see fit to use is the next option.

I want to read your book .I allso would like a patch if they are available.Reading what little of you book I could from this site it kinda mirros my life.But my motivation to tame demons .Was differnt and I didnt Kill or hurt some one .Almost took a leg off thoug for a spur.I hate rapest and was thretend by one in M.C. in idirect way not 2 tell.The spur said trust me or else on it .Some things dont have to resolt in vilance .Even when it should .Maybe When I get money I can have you make me speacil shot gun since the one I hand is famouse in home town now and is promised to some one .Looking Forward to doing bisness with you Riley j Gordon.

Hey Boss man,
Finished the book for what has to be the 10th time.
Enjoy it every time. Keep up the good work.

I had noticed that no one on Youtube.com has taken the time to make a Monster Hunter International Film trailer
(As some fans with free time will) I have decided to fix that problem.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvMgDziKBv8

Sorry if its crappy, my comp kicked out on me, so I had to resort to Windows Media Maker.

Years later, I’ve come up with the perfect television show for you to be in!

If you recall from ages ago on the High Road, I am the producer of SHOOTING GALLERY on OUTDOOR CHANNEL and a HUGGGGGEEEEE fan of Monster Hunters International.

So I’m filming my 10th season of SG, and since I’m probably the highest-rated shooting show ever, the bosses have given me what amounts to carte blanche. I’ve always wanted to do a show called “How to Kill the Undead,” addressing the critical issues of zombies (George Romero slow and 28 Days Later fast), werewolves, vamps and assorted monsters.

My idea is to film the episode at the Whittington Center in New Mexico this summer, probably late May. We’ll use a couple of the big prop houses in Denver and my pal Mike Gibbons, who just retired as one of the premier movie armorers in Hollywood. We’ll build a graveyard for the opening simulation…my idea is to do the entire show deadpan earnest, address guns and ammo choice, etc.

The last segment of the 4-segment show will be an “Undead Stage,” where we’ll have to address zombie targets (head shots only, or course), werewolves (probably with a sawed-off 12 gauge or something tasteful), vampires (crossbows, natch)…maybe the occasional monster to finish it up.

I think you’d be the IDEAL guest for this episode! We’ll sew MHI patches on SHOOTING GALLERY shirts. We’ll plug the hell out of the book and have a great time. We won’t pay you a penny, but we’ll pick up all the expenses and buy post-filming liquor.

As always boss, love the site.
Me and some friends are making a lil web-series, was wondering if we could have your permission to use the MHI patch in them, mainly right before someone snipes a vampire and what not.
If that’s ok with you.

Larry,
A friend told me that you have in the past offered concealed weapons classes and or certifications for students. Is that still the case or can you at least recommend someone? Thanks for your time and help!
Aaroncapazzo22@gmail.com

Aaron, I used to teach CCW for free to college students and anyone in the military. Unfortunatly I just don’t have the time right now to do any classes. Sorry. Maybe I’ll do that again in the future, but right now I’m just swamped with the writing.

Put MHI on my amazon.com wishlist, then happened across it at a brick-and-mortar and bought it. Just finished my 2nd reading of it. To my surprise, my wife also read and enjoyed it.

Congrats on the (hopefully financially) successful book.

While I (@ 6’3″ and 245 on a good day) am completely in tune with the large-gauge shotguns (is it wrong to dream about Abomination?), I have to object to the use of a .45-70 lever gun instead of the OBVIOUSLY superior .450 (my 1895M will always have a spot in my safe).

And, given the inability of the internet to properly express emotion, yes, that’s tongue in cheek (well, except for the part about the contents of my safe).

My best friend of 33 years loande me his copy of MHI, one of your original printings, and I am up to pg 196. I love it! Can’t get enough and want your publisher to hurry up with the next book. I want my own autographed copy and patch.
You are an excellent wordsmith and truly know your weapons. I’m a professional gunsmith so I know of what I write. While my firearms passion is older weapons, i.e., Enfields, big bore African express rifles, BIG shotguns, lever guns and wheel guns, I was DROOLING over the description of ‘The Abomination’. Since I have a type 7 FFL and paid my SOT, I wonder how close I could come?

You ever get to Oklahoma, I want to buy you a Guinness.

Do me a favor and check out my web site. Truitt and Son Gunsmithing would be proud to be of service to you.

Just finished MHI as an ebook. Damn that Jim Baen is crafty. Read the reveiws on Amazon, tracked down the first 7 chapters at baen.com and couldn’t wait the expected 3 weeks shipping to Australia. Have to admit, I ordered the hardcopy anyway. 1 question – WHEN IS THE NEXT MHI NOVEL COMMING!!!?

Just now finishing up MHI, loved it and can’t wait for the next. Love the fact that it was done by a fellow gun-nut and shooter. This not common nowaday’s when people try to hide their interest in guns. Keep up the good work will be ordering a patch and it will be going on my shooting vest.

Wow. That was the best HK posting ever. My office works with a ton of HK fanboys and the required gear-queers that that seem to morph into. My umpteen years of professional and amateur experience means nothing to them because they attended a two week course that was taught by HK Seal team 6000SpetsnazBulletboyMagnumPISupertrooperDeathmachine squad. I didn’t get the HK polo in tactical blue and I don’t wear 511’s. I don’t go and shoot at the 100 USD an hour Golden holster supertactical facility that requires a membership fee of 250 a year where it’s mandatory to wear all of your extra mags on your chest. Nope. Not. At. All.

dear sir ,thank you very much. MHI was peerless. If at all possible can we have more? we will gladly pay in advance triple list P.S. my sons say the only problem with the coming zombie apocalypse is the first one to five minutes. once we know what time it is, we will be fine. thanks again for the incredible read.

Thank you for a very enjoyable read.It is RELLY NICE when someone gets weapons and tactics right.I will never forget one series where the hero converted a Thompson Center contender in 45-70 to semi auto.

Just finished your novel MHI. Loved it. Bought it on line from Baen and have enjoyed every second of the read. I could not put it down. My only comment is More. Much More. I want more. So much so if Baen offers a sequel I will pay the ARC (Advance Readers Copy) cost of 15 dollars to avoid waiting a day longer to continue the story line.

Really loved MHI. Was wondering if you had read Vampire$ by John Steakley. And if you had if it was a influence for your book.
Btw loved the quote contest wish i heard about it a month a go. Please keep writing these fun fast paced novels. 1 every month or so would be good

I read Vampire$ many years ago. I enjoyed it. I hadn’t thought about it for a long time when I was writing MHI, but it probably was an influence, not for just hunting monsters, as that’s been done a zillion times, but in that his character’s didn’t dink around about it either. It was all about getting the job done. That was cool.

1 a month a book. As soon as I get my time machine invented, no problemo. 🙂

Since I was the first to pre-order MHI from B&N in my area they offered me the opportunity to review it for them. It follows below.

Gunner365:The things that cause us to whistle while passing the grave yard are real, they do exist, and they do need to eat. This is the story of the people who kill the undead and collect the government bounties. Unusual people who make a difference.

Reader Rating See Detailed Ratings
Posted 09/12/09: This is a wonderful book. All of the things that the public thinks are common scary folk creatures, the vampires, werewolves, zombies, screaming blood suckers, and many more are infact based in truth. And this is a story of the people who work to keep us safe from them. Monster Hunters International is one of a small group of companies that fight and try to kill the legions of the undead, and to collect the government bounty on these creatures. This was the most entertaining, informative, exciting, well written books I have read this year. The character development was excellent, story continuity superb, the author created a wonderful story that will enthrall the reader and keep you turning page after page after page. While the book is robbing you of your sleep it will keep you laughing at the same time. Get the book, read and enjoy. I can’t wait for more of Mr. Correia’s stories.
Does this get me advanced access to the next book?
I’ll see you at the Mt. View book signing.
Gunner365

Loved MHI, it rocked hard. The technical aspects made it that much more enjoyable. Some of the outbreak locations were not far from my AO, got a big kick out of the MHI HQ location also. I plan on buying a patch to go on my body armor, ETA on Dead Six and MHI 2? Keep up the good work man.

MHI:2 (Monster Hunter Vendetta) will be released in Fall 2010. Dead Six I don’t have sold yet. My coauthor on that one is still on active duty at EOD school, so getting that one wrapped up has been tough.

I gotta say that my favorite authors have been Pratchett, Butcher, Modesette, Salvatore, just to name a few. I now add your name to the TOP of that list.

I’m only about half way through your MHI book & it’s great. Plus I’m a 1911 proponant as well, all the while owning 4 gun safes & consatantly exercising my 2nd amendment rights, here in Alaska, as often as possible….=0)

Anyway, don’t want to sound like one of those weirdo freaky groupies (and at 6′4″-265 pounds-benching 430- it would seem odd), but I just felt the urge to look you up on the net & post you a sincere “atta boy” on your writings.Along with our common interest of firearms and our in-common manly size, I think you’re an impressive bard, wordsmith and story-teller who has a great future ahead of you…

So, when the hell you gonna release the next MHI book…? LOL Would you hurry up already. Put away the boom-sticks & get to writing. We want more of Owen & MCI…! =0)

Side note: Is there any way you could, at some point, maybe work in a character for me..? He’d be a tall, manly guy, of Norwegian decent, that comes from Alaska: likes to harvest demons and vanmps…Just a thought… =-)

I read everything on this blog. It is how I get through the day at my regular job. 🙂 (just kidding, I like my regular job)

Butcher, Modesette, Salvatore, Pratchett? Man, that is some dang fine company. Thanks, Norseman. I’m really glad you liked it. I’ll get that 2nd one out to you as fast as I can. (Fall 2010 it is looking like)

Hey,
Finished MHI the other day.. It was freakin amazing. I didn’t know what to think at first, my fiance’s stepdad bought it for me and said read. I loved every minute of it and am very much looking forward to MHI 2, saw that it’s coming out fall next year. AWESOME. Also, I work in a movie theatre, and have seen probably every movie to come through in the past 3 years that interest me. I especially love monster movies, ie underworld and others like it. MHI put into movie form would be beautiful, and trust me I know about movies. This has serious potential, I would talk to baen about speaking with paramount or someone. Then if that one did well, you would most likely be signed for your second book to movie as well. looking forward to more.. Or if you have other books published or recommendationslet me know. I’d be happy to support your books or any others.

Hey, Larry, I’m the guy you bumped into at the B&N in Jordan Landing about a month back. You told me you would sign your book if I bought it, so I shrugged and thought “Ah, heck, might as well help a first time novelist out… probably going to be like most first novels, though…” So I grabbed the book, purchased it and put it in my “To Read” pile by my bedside. Well… I finally got to it, am already 200+ pages in, and am thrilled to have shaken hands with the next great author to hit the fantasy stage. Loving it! Keep up the good work!

Bought your book planning to use it as travel fodder on my way overseas. It did not make it. I read the first chapter at B&N. I then stayed up well past my bedtime reading, oh, about the first 1/3 the same night. See, you don’t want to stop during the action, and well, if that is a requirement, then there really aren’t that many places TO stop, now, are there?…So, to summarize, thanks, man!

Being former military, I’ve been a Baen fan for years, and this book justifies my faith in them. Now, go write more books, please.

I just finished reading MHI. It was truly one of the most epic books I’ve ever read. You, sir, are a genius. There are no words to describe you and your work in terms of greatness. Thank you, Mr. Correia. Keep up the good work.

I LOVED you bringing in the ‘Great Old Ones’! Absolutely fantastic… in hommage to that a funny bit I found online….

…
Stacy Griffith, 15, liked frequenting chat rooms online. One day, she met a funny, goofy boy who was deep and intelligent. They talked all the time and eventually, they decided they were going to meet up at a mall in Stacy’s home town.

Only when they met, Stacy realized he was no boy.

It was Cthulhu.

5,000 Americal girls lose their sanity to Cthulhu each year. Stop online predatation from Great Old Ones before it can start. Educate your children about Cthulhu today.

When is this dead s ix book coming out? Is it coming out? I read that sample and man i liked it. Kinda reminds me of John Ringos Palidin of Shadows stuff(which I really like) Keep up the good work. Your blog keeps me up during the long borind hours of night shift here in Iraq. THANK YOU

Mr. Correia I am an avid reader (3 to 4 novels per week) and was verry impressed by MHI, so much so in fact that i have been working on a D20 rpg campain setting based on characters and information from your novel as i have yet to find any already published. Know that I have no intention on ever having the setting published but would love any thoughts you may have on the subject.

PS keep up the good work
From me and all my geeky die rollin buddies
C.R. Fox

Larry,
I own the independent bookshop in downtown Boise.
I recently read Monster Hunter International. I love your book and it is prominently displayed in my store. I am also a combat veteran and a shooter. I would like to invite you to Boise for a book signing in my store and a skeet shoot. Please contact me at your convenience.

Just put the book Monster Hunter International down……… you did a great job. I kept waiting for it to get corny, hoping it wouldn’t. You punted this one out of the stands, and have snared my attention for years to come. I hope good fortune and great writing fill your future days. I will recommend MHI to all of my friends and fellow Marines.

I snagged MHI on Monday (November 2) after my friend read me the first SENTENCE of the book. As soon as I heard ‘threw my incompetent jackass of a boss out of a 14th story window’ I screamed SOLD and ran to B Daltons. I’m about half way through as of this writing, and I kind of wish that the whole thing was real.

I digress, it’s a very well written book, and I can’t wait for more. Abomination = FTW! Along with H&K.

i don’t know if this is the right forum to Gush, but i’ll do it anyway. i had just about given up when i found your book! it fed my Hunger and now i must have more!
i must say that MHI was the best book i have read in a Long time!

before i found your book.
i had read every book i could find pertaining to the things in your book. when i ran out i started writing my own. my friends tell me i have good characters, story line and strategy, but my humor is lacking. i just can’t translate it into a book. but i digress. i am also a number cruncher (if not in the same way you are) and a Gun nut. I used to shoot competitively when i was younger, but I started working at 15 and haven’t had time since. My family are avid hunters, fishermen and trappers, so i grew up the old way. I want to thank you for your book and I would gladly spend way too much money on the next one =P.

Larry,
Loved your book after hearing you on Gun Nuts Radio as did my wife! We just opened a new gun store in Northwest Florida, how can we order some copies of MHI at wholesale (and maybe a poster or something) to stock for our customers?

I absolutly loved MHI!!! a friend of urs recomended it to me and loand me his copy, and i loved it!!! I know that im not majorly known but anyone who does will tell you that they don’t see me reading all to often, it takes one hell of a book to get me to read straight through, one that grabs me from beginging to end. and MHI did jst that! it was so good that i kept having to catch myself from calling it a movie because thats exactly what it felt like while reading it, countless times i was telling my girlfriend about the book and calling it a movie instead, and she would correct me, it was jst that mind wrapping, discriptive and all around good! i can’t wait for the next one, i assure you u have jst gained another fan!!!!

Hi, I just finished the book. Read it within a week, just could not put it down.
My husband, currently in Iraq, has read it twice. He sent it home with a note asking me to put it in a safe spot till he gets home or better yet read it. I chose to read it. WOW! I had to look you up to see if there were more books coming out. Can’t wait till the next one. When I hear from my husband again, I will give him the good news. We will both be looking forward to the next one. All I want to do right now is go out and buy alot more guns! My husband insists I wait for him to come home so we can buy them together. Ahh maybe I can wait . Or maybe not! great novel!

Thanks for MHI. It is great to see one of the members of the Gun Culture doing well. If u need anything…ever, stop by my favorite website AR15.com. The texas boys will be more than glad to help you out. We also have a small section for your homies up north. The only book I can compare yours to is “Unintended Consequences ” and that is high praise indeed. Thanks for the read.
hound out

Mr correia, i sent you an email this evening (december 7, 2009) and i forgot to ask about additional patches. Does the switch-bunny, or bloody bunny, how ever you choose to phrase it, patch exist? If so where might i find a link to it?
thanks for the awesome book. Far and away the best monster killer book i have read in years.
lunchbox

I’ve got a couple other patches that will be coming out along with the next book. I can’t do the Bun-Bun one, as that would be a copyrighted image belonging to Pete Abrams of Sluggy Freelance. That was more of a hat tip that I put in because I love his comic and read it daily.

Bummer. I was hoping that Mr. Abrams had given permission. I also enjoyed sluggy freelance quite a bit, thusly my desire for a patch. Thanks for your prompt responses to both my email and my post on this site.
lunchbox

I received your patches awhile ago here in sunny Afghanistan and I understand that you like to post photos of them from distant locations. I’ve got a few pictures of MHI patches being worn in Pol-e-Charki, Afghanistan that I’d like to share. What’s the best way to get these to you?

Mr Correia,
I just read MHI in 3 days. Great book in general and the details made it hard to put down. As a weapons instructor, training junkie, KS Air Guard CATM troop, and general gun geek, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the technical accuracy of the book. So many authors could benefit from taking the time to learn how guns actually work and the terminology that folks who use guns actually use. Thank you, it’s appreciated. I’ll be telling all my gun geek/sci-fi/fantasy fan bretheren about your book.

Larry,
You kinda look like my cousin Danny. When Danny and I were still in our teens I went back north for a visit. His room was in such disarray that I surmised that, Hoffa HAD to be in there somewhere.

Just finished MHI, got it for my birthday on the 18th and had a hard time putting it down.
If you are attending the SHOT show next month in LV stop by my booth, would love to shake you hand, you write just what I like to read. I think we have some extra badges if you need to get in.
Booth # 25501 X Caliber Tactical

Larry may not be able to go, but I will be coming down to Vegas several times next month. If possible, I would love to steal a badge and attend.
I may not be as great as Larry, but I do get to blow things up for a living and can bring a DVD as payment for the badge.

Larry, I picked up a copy of MHI at Barnes and Noble, thinking it was going to be a fun ride, and I was not disappointed. I stayed up until 2 am that night reading, and was not much good for work at 6 am the next morning. (Take that employer! ) It is great to see a local writer doing so well, keep up the good work!

Good to hear! That is so exciting. It’s a no brainer really – it will make a brilliant BIG movie. I found MHI thru Oleg Volk’s site, which I have been lurking around on for a few years, I’m a M1a man mesself. I recently sold a screenplay to DreamWorks Animation, which I’m not at liberty to talk about either until they announce it. If I can help in any way getting this to the big screen, I’m there. GOOD LUCK!

10 January-Bought your book at Barnes & Noble this afternoon, an impulse purchase. ” Monsters, Guns, Knives and Mayhem”….I think that I am going to enjoy this one. My reading covers a very wide and diverse range of subject matter. I need something like this to clean my literary pipes. Even at the age of 63 I can still enjoy this stuff.
Please, do keep it up.
Campbell Williams
Jonesboro, georgia

MHI is a great book! I’ve read tons of horror/fantasy over the years, but must say this is a very refreshing read. I hadn’t read this genre for years and noticed your book in Books- A- Million the other day. Very glad i bought a copy.
I have always wanted to write, but was terrible diagramming sentences in high school:) Were i a writer, i would like to think that it would be a similar style to yours. I have an idea for a story that you may use or discard at your leisure..
It’s called “Snowman”. The story is set in the Denver area in the 1970’s. A serial killer known as the “Snowman” who decorates snowmen with the appendages and other assorted parts of his victims is on the loose. Our heroine receives a phone call from her sick aunt who lives high in the mountains above Leadville.
Leaving Denver in route to her aunt, she attracts the notice of the Snowman and a horrifying chase to our heroine’s aunt ensues.. Bloodied and battered, our heroine reaches her aunt’s cabin as the full moon illuminates the frozen landscape, the Snowman in final, victorious pursuit.
With brutal fury, the Snowman wrenches open the cabin door. Inside, our heroine is barely able to form these words with her rapidly transforming mouth..”Glad we made it..auntie hasn’t eaten in some time!”..Seems our heroine and her seriously wounded aunt are old school werewolves.
Respectfully,
Rob Mesecher

Check the Buy stuff link at the top for the prices. International shipping is a tough one. It costs me about $8 to ship a book to Europe, so I’m guessing that Israel would be about the same. So just use $8 for shipping.

Hi, I am currently reading your book and it is great. I think it is worthy of a movie but you probably know how careful you will have to be to get that done. As Spiderman and the lord of the rings have shown, you would need to find a director and producer who not only know the material but want to make your book, and not their “vision” of the book. I am looking forward to your next book and have recomended you to everyone I can. Thanks.

We’ve browsed through your reviews and thought that they are really original and interesting! We would like to invite you to publish your reviews on 7tavern.com, which provides an alternative platform for promising movie reviewers to showcase their talents. In addition, you’ll find a growing community of bloggers who share the same passion for excellent movies! Based on the merit of your reviews, we intend to offer you exclusive publishing privileges on our website!

I just wanted to commend you on your book, when i was home on mid tour leave my dad gave me it and once i started reading it on the way back i couldn’t put it down. The description of the weapons used in the book was amazing as a army scout in a sniper section i’m all about attention to detail. I passed the book on and its circling through my plt. everyone loves it and I can’t wait to read your next book. I plan on ordering some patches and sporting them on ranges or when we can wear ball caps on Sundays. I just wanted to say thanks for the book and keep up the great work.

Your book is a fanfavorite on comicbook writer/Gun lover Chuck Dixons website.I would love to see MHI as a comic. Either Chuck or his buddy Beau Smith MUST be the ones to do it. Drop by and feel the love. You know, gun-toting, bearded love.

Couldnt be happier about the sequel. Invite to the Dixonverse still is open. Chuck and the crew loved your book. Be warned tho..not an Obama friendly forum. But there are many gun lovers and current and ex military guys and gals. People who think the phrase”target rich environment” is always funny. Registering is free and worth it.

Um, I think “Obama friendly” and “gun lovers and current and ex military guys and gals” are separate dimensions. And if they mixed, it might not be pretty.
Though, with our natural charisma, all the Obama folks would swoon over us. Since they apparently love charisma.

Rob, thanks for mentioning Dixonverse – never heard of it until now, it is now bookmarked.

just finished MHI and want to say that was one of the hardest books to put down that I’ve ever read. Loved the .45s particularly the 1911s and hope they continue in the sequels. Can’t wait for Vendetta and hope Milo has some new tricks up his sleeve!

I can’t tell you how relieved I am to find that you have more books to be published. It would have been a pity for a book as good as MHI to be a single. I haven’t enjoyed a book as much as yours in a long time and that includes Stephen King of whom I’m a great fan.

I have lived in the area where you set MHI all my life and appreciate either your familiarity with the area and its environs or the thorough research. (Natchy Bottom is just a quarter of a mile from my hunting camp—under another name, naturally, and I’m pretty sure some of my sister’s husband’s relatives are orcs.)

Dude. Love the book so far. Got it on loan from a friend and I’m going to buy copies for some like minded friends of mine. One question though, WHEN IS THIS COMING OUT IN AUDIOBOOK FORM? That would totally rock. I’m thinking….Read by Vin Diesel. Just a thought.

Just so you know. I’m an Army & Air Force vet of the Iraq war and soon to be going to AZKRAKISTAN after I complete Combat Arms Training and Maintenance School with the Air Force. Keep it coming and keep it real.

Larry, Handiboy gave me your book for Christmas and my wife and I read it. Best book Ive read in a long time! I love your your take on elves and orcs. Can’t wait for the movie. Tell your wife hi from us and if you’re ever in the area let me know.

Dude, your new stuff is awesome. Can’t wait for the full book. Wanted to let you know Handiboy is in town for his grandpa’s funeral. You should drop him a line if you’r not to busy. He’s really bummed.

At todays’ Tanner gun show, Denver, CO, I picked up 3 patches, subdued, for battle dress, jackets or hats.
A round patch with a big “SECRET” across the top, with a squirrel and acorn. For “Secret Squirrel” missions/operations/groups.
A square tab, like a RANGER tab, except it says “INFIDEL”
another tab, instead of the “ARMY STRONG”, it says “INFIDEL STRONG”

Cool new website to further distract you from writing.. The IMFDB or Int movie FIREARMS Database. Great to finally see you at the Dixonverse. Find it funny you are using one name. CORREIA… as voiced by Anthony Quinn..heh

Larry, when are you going to be in Oklahoma? You might give some consideration to setting an episode in one of your upcoming books in Oklahoma; we’ve got plenty of places here where monsters could hide out. Hell, there have been BIG cats living in western OK for generations (probably here before White Man) but the ‘authorities’ refused to admit they existed until they were show undeniable proof. Same with bear in eastern OK.

Paul, normally pretty fast, but I’ve been swamped this month. I’ve got about a dozen orders sitting on my desk waiting to go to the post office. I just haven’t gotten a chance to sneak over there yet. I’ve got one fellow in Switzerland who ordered books and patches, and I sent just his books last time. Luckily, I’m much better at writing than I am on keeping up with the merchandising! 🙂

I read your book and loved it I just gave it to my husband and wrote a great review on Amazon for you. I think you did a great job with the novel and brought a much needed fresh approach. I can’t wait for your next book!

Ya know, when you’re hot and tired and thirsty, that first sip/gulp of a cold beverage of your choice hits the back of your parched throat…? And then ya just go..”Ahhhh..” That’s what happened when I stumbled on this site. Live in Springville. Former USAF SP and cop/EMT/firefighter. Now college kid at 55. Will obtain a copy of MHI. Hope to earn a patch.

Cool . Nice to see something in fiction located in bama other than hicks, the KKK, moonshiners, corrupt politicians /sheriffs and rednecks. I really enjoyed the book as a long time gun guy and as a cop.

Just finished Vendetta (Baen Arc edition) Did not think you’d equal the first book. Actually I was right you exceeded the first book. This was a real barn burner. I could not put it down. The character developement was great and suprising. Only problem is the wait for book 3.
This is a must read book. Best read I have had since book one. Keep up the great writing I am ever so hooked on these books.

I obtained the copy from baen.com in their arc (advanced reader copy) section. I downloaded in mobipocket format which I read on my Ipod touch using a app called bookshelf. However I know that there are free readers that run on PC’s that will do the same thing. This is a pricey service from baen 15 dollars a copy but for a book like this one well worth the money. Note this is a unedited version of the book but you can down load the edited version when it comes out. I won’t comment on content since I think only the worst of people who do that however if you loved the first book like me you will love this one more. More detail, more action, more villians. Sayed up all night to finish it could not stop till I found out how it ended. Only regret is I now want the next book.

Thnks very much for the information. I guess I’ll have to wait unless Larry wants to sell me one of the galley proofs. The only TECH I own is my computer and I spend too much time sitting in front of it as is. I’m hopelessly old fashioned, my wife asked if I wanted one of those electronic book readers for my birthday and I said no. For me part of the enjoyment of reading is holding a book in my hands.
Maybe the anticipation will heighten the enjoyment.

Larry, is there any way, you’d ever let somebody take a crack at turning MHI into a movie? Between Twilight, Anne Rice, and all the other pathetic pieces of useless cinema one finds in the genre, it would be nice (okay far more than nice) if for once a movie came out that a bunch of Marines (like my artillery battery and I) could actually enjoy. Am I volunteering myself? Yes. Heck, I could have the rough draft done before we leave for Afghanistan next spring. What do you say sir?

While on a trip to the U.S (from Dublin, Ireland) I picked up ‘MHI’ following some recommendations from LEO buddies over there. Excellent holiday read, might finally replace John Steakley’s ‘Vampire$’ as my favourite monster-hunting read. Looking forward to the next one.

Gun question for Larry: I am a fairly new gun owner and I am trying to learn the basics to shooting. I am a believer that if you own a gun you need to learn to use it properly. What I would like to know is where I can go to learn the basics (or what I should read). I am a poor college student, but I love to shoot my gun. Any tips, even if it is just you pointing me in the right direction on where to go so I can learn the basics, would be greatly appreciated.

And since it can get pricey buying ammo constantly, are there some skills I can work on without going to the range. I know there isn’t really a substitute for going out and shooting, but I am looking for anything that will make me more skilled in handling my fire arm.

And if anybody else has any advice or ideas I am all ears. I think I will start working on my shooting by forgetting the five minutes of video I just watched.

My wife and I love your book. Your blog was an interesting read also. I grew up in Mississippi and have lived in Savanah, Georgia and currently Atlanta.
Thanks for the Southern setting and accurate description of southern humidity. You did freak me out by mentioning out of the way places that I have spent time. Booneville, MS and Ossabaw Island, GA and not mention the oddball swamp of Mississippi. We love the characters and story. Looking forward to the next book and ordering our patches.

Dude your Monster Hunter Books are Epic! I am from Mariposa, California (currently living in Merced) and grew up shooting guns, reading H.P. Lovecraft Books and playing the CHILL role-playing games-reading your book is like hanging out with old friends!

If you want to see radical green extremism, check out the youtube video “10:10 no pressure.” Tell me this is just meant to be a “whacky” way to get their message out, and not a method to intimidate people. Look at the way they target kids in school, knowing some kids will eventually see this video. This is not a video for kids. There is graghic gore in this video and I believe a subliminal threat.

Not wanting to babble on like the derranged fan girl I will undoubtedly sound like, I shall attempt to sum up…

You rock!

So glad I stumbled across MHI in the local chain bookstore, it’s unreal. Having read a ton of books in the Fantasy, Sci-Fi and related genres, I was still blown away by how much I enjoyed reading MHI. Just found Vendetta on the shelves and can’t wait to dive in headfirst.

I have no criticisms, only one request. Please write more, lots more, and faster!!! Clone yourself, chain all of them to computers, or whatever your preferred method of scribing is, (haven’t finished your bio yet, sorry) and let’s get cracking! 🙂

I’m an engineer and I’ve really enjoyed your Monster Hunter series but have one minor quibble on details.

Kevlar makes a pretty poor armor for the people in your stories. It’s fine for stopping bullets but pretty poor when stopping sharp pointy objects like knives, ice picks, arrows, etc. Slightly harder bullets, say silver bullets, also pass through Kevlar. This is the reason they have the ceramic and armor steel inserts in the Hard Corps line. Given the threats in the Monster Hunter universe, Kevlar is pretty weak protection. An over layer of chain mail would improve slash resistance.

Another problem for Kevlar is that Kevlar armor loses about half it’s protection when wet. A vest might stop a .357 magnum round but wet, the bullet passes through the armor and the occupant.

Drop me an e-mail. I have a marvelous story about a co-worker at a defense contractor demonstrating these problems for a customer. The customer was not amused; blood is so hard to clean out of shag carpeting.

I thought about that. Another book already pointed that out. I think maybe Jim Butcher. And definitely Artemus Fowl(not that you people are likely to enjoy that kind of thing.) But they both point out that if you want to deflect claws and teeth you are better off with actual armor.

Given that the threat is primarily from getting bitten, by either a vamp, zombie, or werewolf, I think special-purpose MH armor is called for. I was reading a novel where the murderer was using piano wire as a garrote, so the detective had a metal collar made up immediately prior to the final showdown. Moreover, it’s entirely possible that an anti-venom of some sort might be devised that proofs the hero from teeth

My father introduced me to MHI last year, and I just finished Vendetta today. I just want to say that this series is, without a doubt, my favorite out of all of the fiction I’ve read. I’ve since spread the word, and convinced several of my friends to read it as well. Thanks so much for giving us an amazing read that also sets us apart from our peers and their fail-books about whiney emo teenage vampires. “They only sparkle when they’re on fire.” >:D

At least the teenage vampires you speak off don’t give the evil guy speech instead of fighting. They just kill you without speeches. Also, they are not puny vampires you find in Monster Hunter who get easily shot. The sparkling ones are moving far too fast for a human to shoot. They are much more frightening. In fact Monster Hunter has the weakest, stupidest vampires anywhere. Plus; Isn’t it silly that absolutely every vampire has the same exact personality? Id also add; No one that has read Anne Rice would try reasoning with a vampire. The vampires in her books are very scary powerful creatures.
I know guys are sort of jealous of vampires, and as these books are written for men, I see why this is. You treat vampires much like you treat Grant. You just don’t like sexy slick males. I totally get that.

Larry, I’ve just had an email with a message saying that the stranded Carnival cruise ship off Baja was attacked by some sort of Aztec zombies and a large winged serpant. The passengers and crew were forced to hide in their cabins while a group of mysterious ‘paramilitary’ went through the ship clearing it of the undead infestation. While the rescuers were unidentified, the one who appeared to be the leader, refered to only as ‘Z’ by another team member was heard mumbling something about ‘being screwed by Mexican bureaucrats and charging extra’.

The email said there was a video shot with a cell phone that showed several feats of amazing marksmanship and the pilot of the team’s helecopter taking the chopper through several manoevers that the witness did not think were possible. Unfortunately the video file seems to have either been corrupted or removed by some internet hacker.

OOPS, my doorbell is ringing. Must be Mormans or Jehova’s Witnesses, some guys in black suits.

I think you should really create a actual hand book or guide book for MHI. Most readers would buy it. I really like that quote the beginning of the second book.
“When monsters have nightmares, their dreaming of us.” – MHI Company handbook.
Amazing books!! I’m trying to start a fan fic. as well.
Feel free to E-mail me.

MHI was a great read. I was amazed to find out that you are you. Uhh … that is I thought your book was a great read and that you must be a pro writing under a pseudonym. Look forward to your future works.

I bought MHI as an impulse and because I’ve read all the books I could find that were interesting at the local book store. When MHV came out I didn’t hesitate and spent the days lunch money without a single regret. More , please?

Is there a MHI official corporate symbol or Logo suitable for a Golf type shirt? I’m planning on attending an Occult Crime Seminar next year and I thought such a patch/company logo on a tasteful gulf shirt with 5.11s or such would make suitable duds for such a seminar. Kinda of a below the radar joke you might say. If there ain’t, as busy as you are maybe a contest for such design to give you one more piece of swag to sale to your fans? Something tasteful that sezs Monsters Hunters for profit subtly. Please?

Larry, I realize that I am about 3 years late to the party so to speak, but I just finished MHI. It has to be one of the top 10 books EVER written. I enjoyed it so much I read it TWICE in less than a week. If you find yourself in the Dallas, TX area, please let me buy you a beer and pick your brain.

Larry, keep up the awesome work on the blog. I found you through a link to “HK. Because you suck. And we hate you.” and turned into a full blown MHI fan. I plan on getting MHV the next chance I get. Thanks for the laughs and keep them coming.

My husband and I just read about you the other day in The Blue Press (Dillon Precision), and I decided to check you out. You’re a pretty cool guy! I just loved what you said about the circle of life… Hubby and I run the family cattle ranch (beef operation), and I completely understand. Suburbanites are missing it.

The publishing industry is a funny thing, indeed. I write short stories (dark fantasy, gothic, etc), and while I think the story market is a little more open to gun-friendly fiction, at the same time, it’s harder because so many magazines are wanting more of that literary “academic drivel.” Eesh. I went the unconventional route, too — I ended up contracting with some Indie ebook publishers and that’s, IMHO, a LOT better. A writer’s gotta do what a writer’s gotta do. 🙂

I just put in a request for your books at the local library, and I’m looking forward to reading them!

First off, I have read MHI and MHV and they are two of the most enjoyable books I have ever read!

If I was going to sit down and tell a story to my friends your writing style is EXACTLY how I would want to do it. It is personal and colloquial yet still manages to be perfectly descriptive in its ability to convey the story to the reader.

Would you ever consider releasing your books for the Kindle or the Nook?

BTW I was lucky enough to get an Amazon gift card for Christmas, my first purchase … MH Alpha Pre-Order!

Excellent work! Please keep writing as long as you can find inspiration. I hardly ever re-read books, I’m cursed with a fairly good memory and a short attention span … makes re-reading books difficult, but I enjoyed your story so much that I will be re-reading your work soon, and probably many times. Only one other author has that accolade, the immortal J. R. R. Tolkien.

Elcrapocrew,
The MHI books can be bought as e-books directly from the publisher at baen.com. When you go to download them, they offer the option of sending the book directly to your kindle. Otherwise, you can download them to your PC and transfer them to your kindle, nook, etc.

I’ve enjoyed both Monster Hunter books very much, and I definitely think your writing gets better from the first to the second. (Cutting the ‘Z-gets-important-information-in-a-mystical-fashion’ scenes from whole chapters to single paragraphs was a big improvement, for example). So I expect Hard Magic to be even better (but no pressure).

Since I am Jewish I naturally liked The Old Man. It’s refreshing to see a kick-a** Jewish character with a little humanity to him. (I wanted to like “Princess of Wands”, really I did, but that Mossad agent…..) If by any chance you to have any more Jewish or Israeli/IDF characters in mind and want to run them past a local for an authenticity test, I humbly volunteer myself–it would be an honor! (And I might get a patch).

Larry, I saw in your bio that you had self published. Good for you. I know that’s a difficult and potentially expensive way to go. I was looking at that seriously when I got picked up by a small publishing house, Whiskey Creek Press. Their primary focus is ebooks.
So it’s way cool that you got with Baen. Did they approach you (presumably based on sales), or did you go to them?
Either way, congratulations. I loved your first two MHI books.
I’m a former Marine, so I have some fondness for firearms myself.

Wow! You bio is a mini-novel, and well written… plus enjoyable. Makes you sound real, down to earth.
BTW – I am an Alabamian native, and wish I had met you back then. Actually, I have Mormons come by about twice a year, and I tell them up front that I’m not interested, as I have my own faith, but that I commend them for their zeal in carrying out the mission of sharing their message. If every denomination sent out missionaries door to door in this nation – not even seeking converts but just asking the occupants if they would like prayer for anything – I think it would change this country a lot and head it back in the right direction.
Anyway – keep up the good work, and all the best to you and yours.

Larry,
Once again I wanted to thank you for taking the time to speak to my friend Erik and I at your book signing in Sandy, Utah.
It is always nice to know that the man behind the story is a cool guy and shares some of my own friends.
If I can be of any help in your future endeavors please don’t hesitate to email me.
Thanks again
Jeff

Had my own Saiga 12 before I read MHI 1 and Vendetta. as well as Dpms panther .308, Glock 20, and others.
Started in Glendale, Calif
Married girl I figure lived 2 miles from home
Started in accounting and Real Estate
Ended in Utah in computers.
Instead of Alabama I was sent to Alaska 4 2years
Live in West Jordan, home of LAR and the Big Boar
Just some weird Parallels
Love your books
Gordon

Thanks for making recovery from a double mastectomy easier. I laughed even though it hurt to laugh and MHI galvanized my drive and desire to get back shooting as soon as I can. You even inspired me to keep working on my MBA in accounting while I’m recovering.

Discovering that there are at least three more MHI books coming was just icing on the violence appreciation cake.

Larry,
I learned about your MHI books from Ahearn’s column in “The Blue Press.” His description made the books sound like fun, so I ordered both MHI and Vendetta from the local Barnes & Noble. Read MHI in 2 days and then made myself slow down and really enjoy Vendetta (made it last 5 days.) Loved them both! Congrats on your book deals, and can’t wait to get a copy of the Grimnoir Chronicles in May. Happy to see you’re working on other projects, BUT, please get to work on another MHI book too!
Any chance you are going to get some shirts or stickers printed up with the MHI logo? I saw that someone else was looking for a polo shirt with an MHI logo – I’d love to have a bumper sticker for my Jeep.
Keep up the good work!

I’ve read the first two MHI books and am so dawg gone hyped on joining MHI I can’t contain myself!!!
Too damn bad it aint for real ;=( If MHI needs another 300 plus pounder to kick ass gimme a call ;=)))
Seriously tho, I had more fun reading these books than I’ can ever rember having!!
Write On Mr. Correia Your a great author!!
And pass the abomiination!
Sincerely, Mitch Kover

Have you throught about putting it on kindle I loved your first book and in even now am going to Baen to try and get the second one. But I use my droid phone as a reader so not sure if I can use the Bean.

Ive been searching for the perfect patch for my unit that is currently deployed to Afghanistan. i think your MHI patch is awesome and was wondering if we could use the design to commemorate our tour. A little backround on us we are TACPs that have been here for about two months now and are getting restless so any project is an awesome time killer. let me know what you think about the idea thanks!

Larry,
My wife and I are absolutely hooked on MHI, we are avid readers and have been for decades and you Sir have shot up on our A-list in one shot “MHI.” I can’t wait to see the movie, and hope that they do it justice.

April 17. Hi Larry. As a longtime SFWA member with a few hard SF/anthro SF novels out so far, let me add my “great job!” comments on MHI book one. Finished reading it and greatly enjoyed both the characters and the mythology/cultural stuff you set up, ancient and modern. Lived in Huntsville for HS for a few years as my parents worked on the Saturn V. Nice to see Alabama show up so neatly in a novel. And while I am an ex-anti-war activist from the 60s, I’ve always respected the tough job done by military folks. Especially when they have idiot pols messing with their jobs. Looking foward to reading books two and three. Drop me a line if you have any arky/anthro questions you need help on. Tom.

Hi Larry,
I live in Trinidad in the Caribbean. I picked up MHI and was hooked from the first page. Vendetta was excellent and I am literally on the edge of my seat waiting for Alpha.
While Owen is your main character, I like the way Earl’s character has developed and progressed. Even though Earl is the Ultimate Hunter it was refreshing to see that he wasn’t the sum total of MHI.
Great work, keep on putting them out there.
Thank You.

I have just reread MHI/MHV/Hard Magic and can’t wait for more.The fact that Larry is a decent human being is great but even better,he is young so I expect 50 more years of great books from him.Reading MH I&V has made me decide to relearn how to use gun again.Haven’t touched one in 17 years. Great work and all the best to Correia family.

I have just finished Hard Magic. Congratulations. Mixing fantasy with SF with Noir with Pulp is something that has been tried often enough, but the results are usually dreadful. Hard Magic hits a level shared by the two Doc Sidhe books and John M. Ford’s The Last Hot Time, and nothing else that I know of. You are one HELL of a storyteller, and a craftsmanlike writer (people who are REALLY great at both are goddamned rare – how often do you really get a Rudyard Kipling?), and frankly your writing seems to be getting stronger with each new book.

I don’t see where there’s a lot of room for an encore to Hard Magic, but I am content to leave that to the Master Storyteller (that’s you), and just wait and see. I hope that enough of the TV deal you mentioned a while back comes through that you can do as much of this as you would like for a living.

You have become one of my favorite authors overnight. Finished your first two Monster Hunter books and just started Hard Magic. I am really digging Hard Magic. Here’s hoping you have a long a prolific career.

Not quite a year ago, I was reading a Listmania list on Amazon the list was titled “Kick-Ass Male Protagonists” and MHI was on the list. Thus began my search for the book. I finally found it at an independent bookseller in my area (They had 1 copy, couldn’t keep them in stock) bought it, went home and stayed up all night until I finished.

I’m not a gun-nut and normally books that are heavy with them don’t interest me much. I loved it and began to wait eagerly for the sequel. In the meantime, passing the book out to friends and family who in turn all loved it. Sequel was just as funny and addictive a read as the first.

Picked up Hard Magic yesterday and I like the alternate history take in this book. Not very far into it but enjoying it thoroughly.

You have an amazing talent! Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us and allowing us to enjoy your world. Keep ’em coming 🙂

Just finished MHI and wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed it. You can thank John Litchford for turning me onto it. He was a companion of mine in N.C. and Facebook’d me about your writing. I just want you to know that as someone who has visited the South, I had no problem picturing your “innovative” interpretation of elves. Priceless! And there were several times that I laughed out loud (at work which was embarrassing because no one else knew what I was laughing at). I’ve already shared your book with two of my friends who also ate it up. Looking forward to reading the next one.
Thanks,
Jason King

Mr. Correia;
First off let me say I love your work, thank you for writing! I had a question though that I didn’t see on your website, and if you have time I would love to hear your answer:
I know you started the selfpublishing route which grew into a deal with Baen but do you now have/use a literary agent? If you do, who is your agent?
Thanks for your time, thanks for the stories.
-John

My wife has just picked me up a copy of The Grimnoir Chronicles:HM from her favourite shop in Melbourne, Australia, — Rendezvous, a shop that only stocks Urban Fantasy — Vamps, weres, angels etc; with a stong “love” interest!

Mr Correia, I wanted to thank you for ‘Hard Magic’. I bought the book and got sick a week later for four horrid days. The book was so entertaining it kept me distracted, and made me feel a whole lot better in every way. Can’t wait to read more of your work, hopefully without the stomach flu. Given that a little of the book seems autobiographical, i wanted to ask; Are cows stupid, or not?

Dude, your writing rocks. Reading MHI, when you introduced Grant I thought, this sounds like something Louis L’Amour would do: Introduce a character the hero immediately doesn’t like (but the girl does). I bet know where this is going…” Then you confessed above to reading Mr. L’Amour. Good for you.

Greatly enjoyed MHI and MHV. Looking forward to MHA. A friend turned me on to the series to help him plan and build scenery to support a tabletop wargame based upon the fight at the MHI compound in MHV, and I found myself modeling the compound in 3D based upon the descriptions from the books (plus a healthy dollop of imagineering). Hey. it’s a hobby. An OCD hobby, but a hobby nonetheless.

If you are at all interested, please let me know and I will share the models with you.

I got hooked on your books when many of the blogs I read regularly were singing your praises, and I’m expecting MH:A for my birthday next month. If I’m lucky the hubbins won’t have read it first, heh. I’m currently trying to get our Relief Society Book Club to try them out but am not having much luck … CA Bay Area and most of the ladies are not pro-gun, alas. My husband also served his mission in the southern states — Mississippi Jackson — and loves your (true-to-his-experiences) descriptions of the heat and environs. Thanks for continuing to write! –alexis

I just read Monster Hunters International for the first time, and I really enjoyed it! I’m pleased to see that there are more books in the MHI universe, and they will soon be coming to a bookshelf near me. Thank you for writing the books and for sharing them with the world.

Hello Larry I just wanted to say this book was really great. A short explanation of how I found MHI. I really enjoyed your attention to the gun details and specs. The characters were interesting and varied. The world was still ours and familiar but including the fantasy into it the right way was cool. I also really liked how you kept many of the old rules for monsters but defined them better or in some cases actually explained why. I also totally understand what you mean about the South getting the shaft in movies,books and the like. I’m from the North and moved down here it’s pretty nice.

Just a question I’d really like to perhaps travel to Utah one day to take a firearms class from you. Is that possible? Also will you be traveling around anytime for signings or comic/gaming conventions or anything?

Dittos from the Texas-Arizona Border and a fellow expert in the bovine-oriented martial arts (Cow-rate as I prefer to call it).

I just recently discovered your books and I am enjoying them immensely. Guns and sci-fi, how could I resist? Congratulations on your success and I hope it continues!

I was also inspired by your story, seeing a how I am also a farm-kid with an inclination for writing and a rather handy addiction to guns (especially .44 Magnums–I just can’t get enough of ’em…) It’s nice to know that a person who, shall we say, doesn’t fit the standard pattern of Sci-Fi and Fantasy writers can be successful.

Maybe I’ll run into you at a conference somewhere. You sound like an interesting person to visit with.

Till cows quit kicking!
Audra Brown

(Oh, it’s cool to know that at least one other person in the world read Dune at age ten. Nobody ever believes me either…)

Thanks a million for your work. I had a similar odd up raising, “I played football and the violin.” As a former Marine, and current cop, I love the accuracy of your gun oriented writing. (Like what I did there)? Too often the writers just get that wrong! Keep up the good work!

Love your books, just finished Alpha and I love the new series. Makes me wish I had kept my Lewis gun or my BAR 1918A2. Like you, I was a heavy reader/gun geek growing up, US Army, worked as a deputy, had a gun shop, firearms instructor and class III dealer. I’m looking forward to seeing you at Dragoncon and would like to buy 4 MHI patches from you to put together Hunter costumes for my wife and I (she’s ex Army, police officer, now State Attorney and loves guns – she wanted a Sten gun smg for xmas a couple of years ago). If Dragoncon would allow live guns on-site (they don’t), I would bring my M1 Thompson up for you to play with. Take care,

Mr. Correia, my buddie got me hooked on your books this week, I’m allready reading MHA. You jumped to the top of my favorite authors in no time flat. I work at a local Barnes and Noble and am passing the word out that your books are just bad ass to anyone looking for that kind of genre. Glad to see you plan on making this a longer series, been awhile since I laughed outloud reading a book or cheered it on. Keep up the awesome work.

Again I have to say that I almost never say anything on these things but.. I must say that you are very good. I realy enjoy your books, and I mean actualy enjoy them from start to finnish they are fun to read. I read alot (I also started with Lamour) up to 250-300 books a year when I can find them, and when I have nothing new to read I find myself rereading yours ( and ringos and webers). I just want to say thank you.

Thank you so much for your books. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading about an overwieght, musclebound, asthmatic gun nut hero, but suffice it to say that it was a character with which I could really identify. I can’t wait to get a copy of the next book!

Hey Larry, I was talking to Richard Regalo the other day and he gave me copy of one of your early writings. It was a satyrical shop safety test you wrote for us when you were in ourr Ag program at Merced High School. It was great to read your “about me” story and I am very happy for you and your family. You are living proof of what I have always taught my kids about making it in life. There’s no free lunch in life. If you are going to make it in life you have to work hard at it and though you may change directions from time to time, you never give up persuing you goals.

By the way, if you would like a copy of your safety test, giver an email address I can sent a PDF to and I’ll getbit to you. It’s worth seeing again. You will surly laugh your butt off.

First off, huge fan of your work. I love how you handle fire arms in the books. Big fan of Monster Hunter series…why dont you have lowers made with the MHI logo yet?

I picked up Hard Magic recently, and sadly the borders I picked it up from is no longer around. I bring this up simply because the first 24 pages of the book are missing. Now, you might be wondering why I did not find this out to a long time after purchasing the book, simple I picked up a metric ton of other books , and have been reading them. Is there away that I can get a copy of the first 24 pages of the book? or should I just go buy another copy? I admit, I am still reading the book, and loving it! Really get a feel for being in the alternate timeline. Ass kissing aside, what would you recommend?

Interesting – cpa – owen a cpa – However, I wanted to ask if you were going to get on your Cafepress store, a magnetic bumper sticker. My husband told me that I can’t tag up my next car like I have mine right now, but magnetic would work great. (as long as no one swipes it). Just caught up on posts, MHL coming out! My 2 daughters are now hooked on your books, plus a bunch of the teenagers at church. Monster Hunter Alpha I got off Baen for my Kindle, and I forgot about fixing dinner that night, due to being stuck in the middle of the book. It’s that good. Funny thing – after reading MHI for the first time, I was outside getting something from the car (at night – dark) and one of our cats came running up – couldn’t see her, I screamed and ran into the kitchen door trying to get it open as quick as I could. All I could think of is “they’re real and they’re here”

MR. Coreia
I want you to know i have been a writer for years and your work is stunning. It’s as if all the things i would have written are in your books.
my fave is ALPHA. I NEVER write to anyone so this is a first all I can say is thank you.
And if i may be sold bold i would ask that you NOT kill Heather or Earl there are so few werewolf hero’s. i LOVE the time they spend together and am looking forward to heather getting to meet Owen, Julie and the rest of the hunters it would make for a grate O GOD ITS A WEREWOLF seen
P.S. when is the next M.H.I book out if u can tell me.
love from a TRUE fan Winston Gunnels

I just finished Vendetta and had a great time. I loved it, however, you really ought to have a little pow-wow with the cover artist. On the first book, instead of Pitt we’re curiously treated to a rendering of Grant (…why?) with Julie in the background as a consolation prize. I wrote it off as a sometimes-crap-happens SNAFU and dug the novel anyway.

Then on Vendetta, we’re presented in the background with someone who we might take for Pitt, if not for his full head of hair and soft, flabby build. But at least Julie looks like a Klingon. If I was you, after Vendetta I’d suspect that the artist was doggedly trying to piss me off. Can you please just kill him, or something?

The purpose of a cover artist isn’t to document what is in the book, it is to make people in book stores pick up the book long enough to read the back blurb. 🙂 And in that case, Alan has been doing an awesome job for me.

Larry, I just finished the MHI, Vendetta and Alpha. All I can say is, out-damn-standing! I am looking forward to your future writing endeavors. I cannot heap enough praise on you for your gun knowledge, I am a gun collector, shooter and re-loader and one of my biggest gripes is the writers character who has to remove the “magazine from his revolver” or a character with a “double barrel, belt fed, bolt-action rifle”. I hope you have more “Monster Hunter” books in the works as I look forward to any future installment of the “Monster Hunter” crew.

Larry, hey read all the MHI books and loved them! cant wait for the next book! We represented MHI at a zombie walk lastnite and kicked ass, though the umbrella corp was in attendance we did run circles around their glam and glitz in MHI tactics! =)

our team road in the chariot of death (former MOD British Royal Marines Land Rover 109, 12 years active duty in Africa)

Matt, go for it. I think that would be awesome. I know that there was an MHI clan on CoD and I believe there is one on Battlefield. I don’t play too much myself very often, just because of time constraints.

Thank you Larry, your books have been a breath of fresh air!
In a matter of a few months I have read all three of your MH books and currently enjoying Hard Magic. I will be reading and pushing on friends and family all of your current and future books.

Larry,
Here’s something you may or may not have known. you’re books are the prize for Baen’s monthly contest. I already have your books and i’ve also entered the competition.
Congratulations on being the Monthly Prize!

My entry for a recent contest wherein I sent a WW2 construction battalion of blacks working on the AlaksaCanada highway back to the War of 1812 whereupon they befriended/vaccinated Indians, defeated the Hudson Bay Company, took over western Canada and prevented the Civil War.

The winning entry sent Tuskegee airmen back to the Civil War. How original–never would have thought of that.

Five books, five home runs. I love the MHI series and thought it could not be topped, but the Grimnoir series is amazing. And Earl is just totally bad-wolf in MHA.
I’m a native of Alabama and gun geek so the whole atmosphere strikes VERY close to home. And I’ll never look at a trailer park or garden gnomes in quite the same way.
One question, the werewolf in the opening chapter of MHI seemed to be very mature in terms of how long it took for him to change and regenerate considering length of time since he had been bitten. Nit-picky detail.
I was thinking about getting a Glock slide plate with the MHI logo, how would I go about getting permission?
Thanks
A. O’Mary

I am one fo the folks that helps put together the monthly Watch The Skies fanzine for our group in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (USA). I’d like the chance to interview you
(via e-mail) for our January 2012 issue. Our ‘zine is published monthly on paper and via PDF (via our group web site http://mysite.verizon.net/res89guj). Well we’re monthly except for December (too busy in the book store then).

We are reading MHI for our meeting and thought it would be wonderful if you’d be willing to answer a short series of questions for the ‘zine. Our standard is 5 questions and we make every attempt to keep them to topics that don’t amount to wasting your time.

Mr. Correia I have read all 3 MHI novels (in 3 days I must add) and have given them to all of my friends to read. You and Butcher are my 2 favorite authors of all time and look forward to reading your other books soon. My friends are now asking for me to run an RPG based upon MHI so I was wondering if you had a PUFF list available somewhere to download? If not no biggie I can get creative 🙂

Mr. Correia, A buddy (also an army infantry guy) of mine in PA school recently turned me on to your work. I just wanted to say how awesome I think all of it is. I’ve always been an avid reader but this is my first experience into the “fantasy” realm. I’ve now read all the Monster Hunter books (MHI and MHA twice). Just started hard magic and am looking forward to Dead Six. I also have all the available books thru audible. The guy that narrates the MHI series is incredible (do you think so?). Will Dead Six be coming out in audio? Will you keep the same narrator for the subsequent MHI books?
Also i’m a country boy gun nut military geek from Mississippi thanks for your nice comments about the south.

Larry your comibination of H.P Lovecraft and pulp fiction detective novels is awesome. I didn’t know if it was going to work for me at first. I read a lot of YA, SF and fantasy as I am a teacher and am always looking for books to get my kids hooked on. i have to say i am addicted. Your main characters are very sympathetic knuckleheads. Smart yet clueless at times. I guess i can really identify with them. Keep writing and i’ll keep reading!!!!

I am a huge fan of the MHI books and plan to buy a few patches. I was wondering if you ever thought of actually writing up the MHI company handbook… if you do I would love a copy… and I would love to see a MHI roleplaying game.

My name is Rachel and I just finished MHA. It was EPIC! Can’t wait for MHL to come out! I asked my Dad( he gave me MHI to read last year) for all the MH books and patches for my sixteenth B-day ( next friday!!).

I wish I’d read your books sooner. I’m the proud new owner of a CZ75 P01, which makes my previous Glock 19 look stupid by comparison. You’re responsible for this, obviously. 🙁
I’m eagerly looking forward to Legion. I’ve bought the various ARCs and finals from Baen and thank you for being a part of such an open sales platform. I’m trying to get my mother into MH, but Owen doesn’t stand much of a chance against Sam and Dean.
Thanks for keeping me up at night. All the best.

Mr. Correia, I must say, you have become my favorite author these past few years. MHI is a great series so far (Although I haven’t read MHA yet.) You have inspired me to get back into writing, which leads me to my question. If you have free time I would love some tips or pointers. Thanks in advance.

Larry; thanks for sharing your stories. LOVED MHI 1 & 2 and working on 3. Was blown away by Hard Magic. Fantastic premise, great characters, can’t wait to get the next one from Audible. Keep up the great work and the great writing.
Harold Combs

Happy New Year! I am ordering one of you books via Amazon today, but I wanted to ask you this…I am looking for a short story to turn into a short film, low-budget, very little CGI, more practical make-up & weaponry…do you recommend an author(story)? I would like to option a story within the 2012 or 2013. I will personally raise the money via cloud-funding after attaining the option on the story. Or would you like to write one or steer me to an existing short story of your own? If not, that is fine too. I like what you do, it is not easy.

Charles, most of my short stories are related to the MHI, TGC, or D6 universes, so they’re sort of tied up. However, have you read Son of Fire, Son of Thunder? I wrote that one with Steve Diamond and it is a stand alone. Probably wouldn’t be too hard to do as a short film either on a limited budget.

Larry, I feel real thick…just found some short stories on your site, duh. And, I just ordered your book off of Amazon.com, I’m sure it will be great. I will come back more often to your site and read what is going on in your Universe.

Would you please shut up and stay off your site !!!! you are wasting our time !!!! get back to work & keep writing your novels ! I ran through all your books at audible in the last 2 months (and a few of them twice) I totally had fun reading all & especially look forward to additional grimoire novels !…. I will be trying to contact your publisher to demand that he hand cuff you to your computer !

Larry–Got MHI yesterday & digging it! The way it reads to me is as though I am the one telling it, and I mean to really say that I’ve wanted to tell a story very much like yours! You just got there first! MONSTERS and GUNS! Awesome! I have fond memories of going to the range, Army days, and shooting my M16.

Has anyone optioned any of your books for a movie adaption? Your story is ripe for a feature film!

Thank you Mr.Correia, I’m looking forward to the other books! But I have one more question, I’ve been wanting to write a book for awhile now but when I start writing it doesn’t work out. I was just wondering if you might have any tips on how to start writing a book.
-kid who loves your books

Seriously, go write something. Anything. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it doesn’t have to have a beginning, middle, and end. The important thing is that you go write, and keep writing. You’ll get better with practice and eventually it will be awesome.

I think that anyone who aspires to write should commit to composing a million words of prose. If you do anything that much you’ll be good. Sure, you can get advice here and there, but ultimately it’s the experience of solving writing problems that’ll make you a writer. And these aren’t just words you write just to satisfy yourself, but words that someone else, say a peer group, looks at and points up the weaknesses thereof.

Larry, are you going to be doing any signings in the next couple weeks around Layton? I know you’re busy with the new addition, but I figured I would ask as I’ll be out at Hill for the next couple weeks.

Wow, Larry, MHI and MHV are amazing. MHI really blew me away. It had everything I love: monsters (my geek-out subject), laugh out loud humor, superb characters, and just great storytelling. I’ve talked about your books much and I could go on all day about what I loved about them. I’m going to read Alpha, but am waiting a bit because I read Vendetta too soon after International and I need to stretch out my entertainment. Thank you so much for these books; they’re exactly what I needed.

Stretch out your entertainment? HERESY! We need our favorite authors chained to their lap tops.
We might die today. So we need every bit of Corriea and our other authors as our last memories, along with our families.

What? You want your last memory to be that code problem that wouldn’t compile correctly at work?

I was turned on to MHI by a friend that said something like “You’re a gun nut, here check this out I think you’ll like it” I am, I did and now I am a fan. Thanks for the hours and hours of entertainment.

A few weeks ago, while I was was in Yuma I came across Alpha. Man I was hooked. Being a fellow Utahan and gun nu….. enthusiest I had to buy MHI and Vendetta. I read MHI on the plane to Honduras to pick up my son from his Mission and just started Ven. keep em coming ! Brian

Just read though the first two MHI books. I Love them man! Kept seeing San Joaquin Valley pop up and thought it was unusual because no one ever talks about this place haha, so I looked you up and found this blog. I’m from Bakersfield so it’s a nice to see this haze filled valley in such well written books. Oh yeah, loved Melvin the “internet troll”. I was cracking up for awhile when I read that.

Love your books! Had to buy a hard copy of MHI just to share with my coworkers since we bought it off audible first:) This blog has me in stitches weekly too! I was hoping to find a way to contact you about what you mind people using from your books as I see the MHI logo in the oddest places sometimes..

Larry, would you mind if I did a cosplay of Earl for Chicago Wizard World? MHI rocketed to the top of my books list back in 2010 and I haven’t been able to get enough since. I thought it’d be a fitting tribute to introduce more to your fantastic stories.

It’s fortunate that your accountant’s degree and your departure from a desired career with the feds didn’t land you with a job living on a small island in the pacific taking care of their bean-counting needs. Some place where, in fact, they actually use beans as currency.

I’m sorry to say that I haven’t followed your career as I wish I should have. But I did love reading your bio/story above and it made me laugh. A lot. You are a very charismatic and entertaining writer. I will definitely be seeing if I can pick up a copy of MHI tomorrow. And to think, all this time I’ve been imagining you with sand between your toes, an AR-15 in one hand and rocking an abacus in the other.

Hi Larry. Your books are awesome. I am in the last parts of Monster Hunter international and just quoted the undead smoothie line with a link to this blog on Facebook. I have comments from others they plan to read your books now after that humorous line =) I tried to sign up via RSS feed but it gave a XML error page. I am using Chrome, most recent version. Just an FYI on that. Hope to read more books from you soon.

ack I mean you lol…that was kind of a test comment the one before this one so you can delete it. I just wanted to let you know, well…THAT YOUR A BAD ASS WRITER. One of the best for sure. I used to think Scott Sigler was the pinnacle of horror/action/sci-fi but you sir take the cake.

For example, the way you dropped the whole Frank bomb on us in book 2. That was very well done. The way your stories are so well thought out blow me away. I love how all the little detials come together at the end. A lot of other authors make mistakes in giving lots of detail just for the sake of detail with it not being relevant to the rest of the story.

And man…the way you just…tell the story. The action scenes are incredible. And I don’t know who Oliver is but he is an awesome narrator. You struck gold with him. He really makes the story come alive. I really can’t think of an author better than you…I mean novels don’t get any better than these. I’m on book 3 of the Monster Hunter series and I haven’t read any of the Hard Magic stuff. I can’t believe I never heard about you though!

Man…your novel’s are just so witty and they flow seamlessly. A lot of times you can listen to audio books and you end up getting lost and not understanding what’s going on because the author doesn’t know how to develop the plot without making it super boring. With you though every second is gold. That is why I love Scott Sigler so much too. Every page is just entertaining and awesome. His critics say he has no plot development but I say to hell with them. Idiots on their literary high horse. My pet peeve is when authors say things like, “The green half blue half white table that was outside on the deck flew into the wind. It tumbled violently as the newly oak finished legs broke off with tiny cracks that blahblahblah. God I can’t stand pointless descriptions. Sometimes it’s ok but most authors suck at it imo. You and Sigler just take your readers on a romp through the ages where you don’t need any of that plot development crap because the characters are so well thought out and so damn unique and entertaining.

SIGH, anyway I’m ranting. I just wanted to show my appreciation for your work. I’m about to go start book 3 and listen to it for the rest of the day. I just hope I don’t finish all your books to fast. I used to only tell my friends about Scott, or post on forums about him to try and get him more readers, but you sir have joined the list. I will pimp your novels like Snoop Doggy Dogggggggggg 🙂

I spent all day the other day researching how to spend my audible credits. I am so sick of ultra liberal books I googled ‘Science Fiction’ and ‘Conservative authors’ and came across a link which interviewed you and Pournelle and OSCard. (I can’t rely on the reviewers either on Audible or B&N or Amazon as some of them adore stories I find horrific, offensive or puerile.) Happily, MHI is proving a delight and I know how I’ll be spending future Audible credits. If you can recommend other authors, I’d appreciate it. I’m writing my own stuff and will be looking into self publishing.

Dude. You are so awesome. I f*ckin love your books and I love your background. I’m from LA (Lower Alabama) and I adore the fact that you show us that we aren’t all dumb hicks. You’re a great man for writing great novels. And btw, if you stay down here long enough, you get used to the humidity and have a whole new appreciation for A/C.

Larry, I am a huge fan of the MHI series. You, along with a few others, to go public with my writing. I have written a few novels, along with a daily humor blog, that is doing well. Thanks for the inspiration and the incredible books.

Thanks for the reply. It’s not an area that’s known nationally – so I thought there must be some direct connection tfor you to even be aware of it – let alone have an insight into people. I went to Tech.

Michigan Tech used to have an awesome science fiction club. I used to get their newsletter even though I never went to Tech. I’ve enjoyed all my UP vacations and could easily visualize the action in Alpha. And i’ve said this before, there’s something about Yooper chicks that makes them good action heroes.

Hello I am an norwegian socialist ( i really am) and I really like your Monster hunter international series. All the action and gunplay is very solid and existing. I am listening to your first book fore the moment. I understand that you are an right winger and I appreciate the lack of any political views.

I was wondering what thoughts you have on Norway, and from your point of view how the monster hunters would be there.
And I would recommend the norwegian film Troll hunters. It is an excellent film about how the norwegian government would handel an population of trolls.

I like…nay!, love the monster hunter series. I’m about to start the third book as soon as my co-workers finish the second. We’ve agreed to read them at the same time, which makes for some great workplace conversations. I personally do the audiobook thing while I sit on my butt 8 hours a day and I don’t know if you are involved in picking the narrator or not, but Oliver Wyman nails the narration. It’s perfect. We are in Fort Payne, AL. and love hearing about nearby cities and that Monster Hunter HQ is located in Bama.

I can’t wait for the movie, I know Robert Pattinson is going to make an amazing Pitt….. 😉

Larry. It’s me again, bugging you about patches.
I’ve tried emails and comments on other recent posts, but nada I really REALLY need one of every patch from MHI. Not for me, (although I would SO wear one) but for my son… Deployed again to the sandbox, and the person who told me “Mom, you gotta read these books!” He was right, they are most amazing! PLEASE send me the address so that I can order the patches, for the Sergeant to velcro to his ACU’s and proudly swagger around Afghanistan, kickin’ in doors and hunting monsters. Yup, thass my boy !
SIncerely, Hagen

I’ve enjoyed reading your blog posts as well as life story and have a random question if you don’t mind. I was considering pursuing a career in Accounting and was wondering if you could offer any advice? Thank you for your time and apologies if this question is out of line.

I like accounting, but keep in mind there are lots of different kinds. Like I hate tax accounting, but I love auditing, which is sort of like putting puzzles together. Even when the economy sucks, businesses still need accountants, so it is pretty stable, and the pay is pretty decent. Though it usually sucks to start, if you’re sharp you can move up.

On the college side, keep in mind they make the first and second year of accounting suck balls on purpose. That is to weed out all of the other business majors. Third and fourth year are actually interesting.

Larry, I asked you if you would like to use my name in your next book about a year ago or maybe a little more not sure. I asked you to use “Mitch Kover” and well, you’ve got an old guy named “Mitch” in your new book. Please tell me it’s me???

Larry, I’m gonna take that as a yes just cuz it would be the highpoint of all the years I’ve put in reading! Please keep writing, I’ve never had as much fun reading as I do when I read your work!! Bless you Bro!

This tax accountant (yes I admit I love tax & monsters) really enjoys your books! I laugh out loud every time I read your stories! Guns, monsters, & accounting – my favorite combo. Can’t wait for your next books. I listen to them on audible & just want you to know the narrators for MHI & the Grimnoir novels are great!

Larry,
With your success as an inspiration, I am going to be publishing an Ebook on Amazon in the near future. You are mentioned in the dedication. I would like to send you a free copy, either ebook or print. Please let me know where to send. bittermac@yahoo.com
Thanks again for the awesome books.

Hey,
I just finished reading Monster Hunter International. It’s one of the finest science fiction books I’ve ever read. As a D&D player and all-around nerd, as well as a die-hard gun enthusiast, your book felt like it was almost written just for me. I’m looking forward to reading more in the Monster Hunter series.
On an unrelated note, you bear an uncanny resemblance to one of my best friends.
Thanks for the fantastic novel! Best wishes to you and yours.

I know it has been said before, but everyone interested in the audiobook should go to http://www.audible.com and search for it on their website. If you have bought his previous novels in audio form and liked them, you can also help out by ranking them in your audible library.

The search and ranking stats add up eventually and people there do take notice, which gives them more incentive to showcase Larry’s books, which means he sells more of them, which means he is able to write more of them, which makes everyone happy, etc, etc.

This is the only audiobook series for which I’m willing to endure Audible.com. Some people appear to like it, but they’re worse than Apple about DRM. To get these books to the USB flash drive in my truck I have to download them, burn them to CD, re-rip them to .mp3 and then move them to my USB drive. Typically if I can’t find the audiobook I’m looking for somewhere other than audible, I just move on to another series. Says a lot about your series, not so much about Audible. Audible makes the only justifiable case for piracy I’ve ever seen.

Technically I could just listen to those burnt CDs in my truck, but then I’ve got to lug them with me in and out of the office every day for lunch or commute.

You need to step on some of those bigwig toes in Hollywood to get there butts moving on a MHI TV show or movie. Something of quality though I hope, last thing I want to see is a crap rush job that doesn’t do the books justice.

Let them know they got one guy here that will have his eyes glued to the TV.

Larry,
As a thank you for all the stuff you pass along in your blog, as well as the incredible books, I have mentioned you in the dedication for my first book on Amazon. Thank you. (And I still want to see the MHI Movie, but no Rosie PLEASE!)
Take a look. http://tinyurl.com/cw327cd

I live in NH and I was thinking about the idea of setting up a table/service at gun (and other) shows to sell MHI patches & related stuff. PLUS offering to laser engrave peoples boomsticks and other toys.

I have never tried this sort of side business before. I have been in sales of high precision and laser related equipment. I did not start actually owning guns and shooting until I moved here from NY.

Do you have anyone else marketing your stuff and IP in this way? Are you interested? I could have the patches, etc. made locally.

I am hugely enjoying your MHI books. I have not tried the other series yet.

I am a veteran, and, yes, I work for the federal government. I work for a VA Medical Center. You know the motto of many in the Armed Forces is to leave no one behind. While that is not the official motto of the VA Medical Centers, I think that is part of what motivates us. No one is left behind, even after they come home.

I know it is part of the story line to show the constant conflict between the bureau and MHI. But, is there any way you could put in a good word in a future book for those of us who do make sure that no one is left behind? I would not want your readers to think that a federal government employee is automatically an …

Loaded your books onto my iPad. iTunes needs to work on their classification. I loaded the 3 I have and they showed up in order of publication under the following categories: Science Fiction, Horror, Urban Life. We got a kick out of Monster Hunter Alpha being a tale on Urban Life. LOL

Larry, just had to let you know your MHI novels are fantastic please keep it up. Will have to check out your other novels I have purchased your “Dead Six” novel but haven’t had a chance to get to it yet. Funny how 8 or 10 hours of reading can give so much enjoyment.Your interest in firearms in fact the ability to turn it into a money making proposition is admired something I wish I could have done when I was much younger,I’m retired now. So congrats an stay healthy an wealthy.

I’m towards the end of the first Monster Hunters book. I love it and can’t wait to pick up the next one. When I start reading your book I never want to put it down. Keep writing please. You are a very talented story teller. You have acquired another huge fan.

straight off, english isn’t really my first language. So i apologize in advance of any grammatical errors or misspelled words.

I’m a big fan ( so i seem to be in good company here) of the Grimnoir chronicles, i read the MHI books and i like them too. They’ve got a great cinematic feel to them that has it’s unique charm. But the Grimnoir series is the one that really got a hold of my imagination and would not let go.

I’ve seen that you’re a fan of figure gaming and painting miniatures as well, and i was just idly wondering. Has there ever been any talks about producing a skirmish/figure game for the Grimnoir series? If not, i’ve started sketching preliminary ideas for one. And i was just wondering if you’re opposed to the idea or if there is already one in the works by the professionals who’d probably do much better job than i could

Not yet, but I wouldn’t be adverse to it if a company wnated to do something. At this point, I’d definately only do it with a professional company that was already in that business. No offense intended, but that’s how I have to pay the bills.:)

Larry, I hope you catch this note–can’t find an email address for you, which I guess I can appreciate!

I am looking for a CCW instructor in the Seattle area. I have read some of your columns on how you run (ran?) your classes. I liked what I read, and I am looking for that kind of instruction. Thanks in advance if you have a reference to share.

Matt, I’ve only visited Seattle once, so I would suggest for Washington state look up Kathy Jackson at http://www.corneredcat.com and see who she recommends. She is in the area, and she is an awesome instructor.

Hi Larry,
I have a strange request- and yes, you can laugh at me! I Loved your Blog about you, and read your article about gun control on FB. Am sure your books would not be appropriate for a Church book club, cause of the peppering of cuss words in your blog, (and your books are a bit long for a group with various reading skills,) but fantasy is very popular, I would like to ask you to think about writing a book with zero cuss words, that would be good for Book clubs. (I like that the
bad guys are bad guys in your books. no smudging the lines, as in “there are good vampires”.)
Keep my email, let me know if you ever come up with one. Thanks, JulieQ

I recommend the MHI books for 12 and up. Some people cuss and when you are in danger of being disemboweled by a werewolf or zombified I think a blue word or two are entirely justified. The level of gore is more what I’d look at for a sensitive kid. Or grown up. Tho I am such a one and still enjoyed the books.

I am a retired Marine and have been a Tech Rep working with them for another 22. In that period of time I have been all over the world… quite literally. Profanity is something that is part of the normal culture of people who work in the real world, with real people, dealing with real problems. When you write about this kind of reality, it usually includes the language used by “the Players”. Of course in some circles it needs to be contained but by and large if you are going to have a “Reality Show” (be it video or novel) then it needs to include the language used by those that you are portraying. Just my 2 cents, and I could be wrong.

While I am here, please let me thank you for the really well written piece regarding Gun Control after the most recent insanity in Connecticut. It’s long, but it covers all the bases, and makes an excellent reference for people like myself that are also trying to reason with Liberals over this issue. Possibly a lost cause for most, but I like to think some of them might actually be capable of sound reasoning if presented with logic and truth.

Larry, thank you for being out there bringing sanity to the discussion of the reality of gun ownership in America. Your 12/21 post on gun control allowed me to stop ranting on FB and just share your link. Couldn’t have said it better. Yours in the fight, JCM

I just stumble across your site and have to admit that I have never read any of your books but I hope to remedy that especially since you have expressed some honest affection for The South.

I was born in East Tennessee and honestly can’t remember when I was not shooting a firearm either at the 100-yard range across my parent’s back yard or at our farm in the middle part of the state. I seem to have some vague memories of sitting on my father’s lap while shooting a 0.22 rifle but I can’t place the date.

I was interested to see your column which tried to explain something of firearms ownership to those opposed to the second amendment. While I applaud the effort I am not sure how well it will work since I have become convinced that most of those on the “anti” side are either politicians / social climbers who cannot be trusted to tell the truth or individuals who have been conditioned to respond on an emotional level. I guess we have to keep trying though.

As for the humidity, you get used to it after a while. All those stereotypes about southrons moving slow have some degree of truth. You do it to get the job done but not die of heat stroke.

Thanks, Doc. I do love Tennessee. I’ll be visiting Chatanooga this year. In July for some strange reason, though… And then Huntsville… In August. Wow. And spending the winter in Utah. I am totally getting this backwards. 🙂

I didn’t write this for the hard core antis or the willfully ignorant. I wrote it to educate the undecided, and I think it seems to be working (160,000 hits in 2 days now).

I hope you are right about changing a few minds. I have been exiled to the frozen liberal hell of NY State for some years now and the governor is talking of forced sale or confiscation of some classes of firearms in the wake of the tragedy in Connecticut. That certainly wouldn’t happen in Tennessee.

Yes, July in Chattanooga can be more than a bit sticky. If you have not already done so, visit Rock City while you are there. It’s definitely a tourist trap but everybody should go once just to be able to claim they have been there.

I just added all your books to my audible wish list. Glad Laurrell Hamilton introduced you to me on her web site thru your gun control blog. You wouldn’t be one of “Anita Blakes” trainers would you grin. Looking forward to reading both your series.

Mr. Correia,
the remarks of Jamie McGann are spot-on, i wish i could just link your post whenever the guys on Facebook are starting some ignorance-laced argument. Save me a lot of mental energy realizing you’ve much more articulately, and knowledgeably addressed idiot remarks like “more guns only make things worse.”

Hey Larry! I just finished “Monster Hunter International” after discovering it at a used book store while on vacation. I’m so glad I found it- I literally could not put it down. If you don’t have a movie deal in the works, you need one!

I’m even more thrilled that you’ve written sequels, and I’ve already got ’em ordered. Keep on writing- love your stuff!

Larry, just read your missive on “An Opinion on Gun Control” and it is spot on. I copied it, put it an a Word document format with your name at the top, bio on the last page, and added page numbers. I would like your permission to use it in letters to my Congressman (John Fleming) and both Senators (Mary Landrieu, David Vitter). I want to convey to them my feelings on preservation of the 2nd amendment and would like to make sure they have your missive as it contains a lot of my own feelings.

Larry:
It appears that one item on the liberal agenda of gun control is passing legislation that would require all current gun owners to submit to a background check and register their guns (that would somehow prevent mass shootings). Do you have any solid information of stats as to the prior criminal histories (if any) of recent mass shooting perps? It’s my understanding that most of the mass shooters (going back to & including Columbine) had no criminal backgrounds, so the liberal argument that by registering guns & doing backgrounds on the owners would somehow prevent mass shootings does not appear valid (surprise). Just curious, Thanks!!

I ended up visiting this site after reading your “An Opinion on Gun Control” article and I’m impressed enough with you and your community here that I’m just going to have to pick up your books and give them a read. Besides, I kinda like supporting local businessmen (I’m in Orem and figure anyone in Utah is “local” enough to count).

Just curious if you know Howard Tayler or Brandon Sanderson, they both do the convention circuits and live here in Utah too. If you’re not familiar with Howard, he’s a great guy and writes the webcomic Schlock Mercenary (www.schlockmercenary.com). You should check it out when you get a chance if you haven’t read it before.

Hi Larry (since I’ve bought all of your books I figure we’re on a first name basis)

Anyway, I’m not sure if you’ll even read this, but I’m writing to tell you how pissed off I am at you. You would not BELIEVE how many sleepless nights you’ve caused by me reading your writings. I constantly search to see if you’ve published your next book. I just read “Legion” (hardback because I couldn’t wait for paperback) in two sleepless nights-you bastard-LOL
Anyway, seriously, you’re a great author. One of my favorite authors for years was/is Terry Pratchett, then Joe Abercrombie and a few others. But you’ve now taken over the top spot. You are an excellent word smith AND a firearms collector 😎
Being a hunter, firearms collector, sport shooter and military person who lives in Alaska, it is a breath of fresh air to see an author that writes action type novels that actually gets the firearm “jargon” correct. Let alone how well written your pace is, the wording, wittiness, humor and action scenes are. It is awesome to have someone write your type of stories that has actually manipulated firearms. Let alone those Great Britain blokes that can’t own or have never used firearms 😎
Thanks for your talent and effort. I realize you have a new baby, but could you please get on with the next MHI book…Please…!?
Oh, oddly enough, for some reason I find myself having a man crush on Ed the Orc. That’s really odd because he use’s swords….Hummm, wonder what it’d take to get him using a black rifle or maybe at least a Para P14 in the next book…..? Just thinking out loud.
Now I’ve got Dead Six in my hands and I’m sure it’ll be another sleepless night. My wife doesn’t understand- LOL
Thanks.
Paul/Alaska

Appreciate your excellent writing. I would like to republish this post on my blog – ModernSurvivalOnline.com. Could not find an email address for you – do you have a problem with me doing this? I would, of course, provide complete credit with links back.

Larry,
I read your Gun Blog with great interest. Thank you for your well thought out and researched information as well as crystal clear common sense. It gives me great pleasure to know there are people like you out there and I respect you immensely. Please continue standing up for America and it’s citizens , it’s people like you that make the difference.
All the best to you and your family this new year!
Warmest Regards,
Steve Martini (not the author haha)

We have now copied the Post across to our site. I hope you don’t mind that I used your full name as the author byline, and included your image from your profile. As is our standard operational procedure, we included a short profile piece at the foot of your article with a link to your profile, and also to the Home Page of your site.

I also added an image to the Post, and we have made it a Sticky Post so it stays at the top of our Home Page, and that will be for a month or so, and I also added a short introduction.

I hope this is all OK with you.

Again, thanks for the approval to use this at our site. Just a wonderful, and informed Post.

Excellent article… Most people do not understand the founders did not include the second amendment for hunting. The last thing in the world I would ever want to be forced to do is shoot or kill someone. However the wife asked me the other day what I would do if someone came for my guns. Without a moments thought my response was simply that I would pray they were single and had no children. A Nation that tries to forcably disarm law abiding citizens is a Nation that won’t stop there.

I love your writing and was lucky enough to meet you at the Hicksville Public Library book signing on Long Island this past summer. I was the short guy that told you about TheWarStore on the Island and with his 5 year old son.

I’ve played Last Night on Earth plenty of times but I clearly prefer this game! It is also highly customizable. It would be easy to add your own MHI hunters to the game. You can also paint the 71 included minis.

“The average number of people shot in a mass shooting event when the shooter is stopped by law enforcement: 14. The average number of people shot in a mass shooting event when the shooter is stopped by civilians: 2.5. The reason is simple. The armed civilians are there when it started.”

Larry,
Knee deep into my first read of MHI. The big 3 novel hardback arrived from Amazon yesterday. Couldn’t wait to get off work to start in chapter 8 (first seven chapters were online).

I can’t wait to read about Sir Z Pitt in action with Abomination. I like shotguns. In relation to shotguns and the rounds he might use. I have yet to read more and hope I am not being redundant with this. Have you heard of Dixie Slugs from the Panhandle of Florida?

Never waiste a good disaster. That is what the good old friend and good old Mayor of that stink hole Chicago believes. They will do any stinking thing they can to include climbing over dead babies to have their way. A fake tear here, a whinning bit of untested reasoning, and they would take them all if they could. I have an answer for that. NO…

I recommended MHI to one of my siblings, for his “after christmas” gift card redemption. He called me up & cussed me out, because he stayed up all night, reading it. He got zero sleep, and had to go to work the next day. 🙂
Good Job, Mr. C!

I just finished listening (feeling a little lazy to read) to your Monster Hunter International book and just wanted to say that was a great story! I thought it was pretty cool you inserted so many elements from your own life into your story. I mean, judging by your description of Owen Z. Pitt he is pretty much you. That is so cool.
Anyway thanks for the adventurous read and I look forward to hearing more from you.

Hi Larry, a friend of mine shared your gun control write up on the 1389blog with me. I posted a comment there but it hasn’t been published, figured I’d post it here for you to see… would like to hear your thoughts on it. Thanks for your strong insight on the subject. I’d like to think I’m one of the people that means well:

I commend you on a very informative and educational article. I’ll share it with a few people I know that are very anti-guns. I am not anti-gun, but I’m not pro-gun either. I don’t own a gun and have only fired one a couple times. I tend to agree with you that gun control legislation is full of irrational logic. In most cases it’s probably not going to have the desired affect, and some laws open the door to more unintended negative affects. Most of the laws people are talking about right now likely won’t prevent much of anything.

Personally, I’m not a fan of arming the teachers. I don’t know that I would trust teachers to keep the guns out of the hands of students, let alone protect the students from gunmen. They have a hard enough time effectively teaching our kids math and science these days. Once they get that right then maybe I’ll feel better about giving them more responsibilities. I’d rather have a one or two trained security officers appointed to each school campus instead. I don’t know why that sounds better to me, but it does.

One thing I have been focused on is regular background checks and mental health checks for those buying guns and even those who already own guns. Would it make sense to require some type of mental health test to be passed along with the background checks? Maybe every two years? Almost like getting a license for a car or to pilot a plane. With as complicated as mental illnesses can be I’m sure there will be nothing that is completely failsafe – and that’s a discussion we can certainly dive into. But wouldn’t it at least have some positive impact on keeping the guns out of the hands of the mentally ill? Seems to me those are the ones most likely to attempt a mass killing. As you mentioned, most of the mass killers have been found to be on psychotropic drugs – why not scan for that in the process?

Wouldn’t it also be a good idea to make sure that all people who live in the household where the guns are to be kept also pass these checks? Sure, this would all be tough to enforce, but I would think this would at least make it a little more difficult for the mentally ill to gain easy access to the guns, which would be a good first step. The criminals will probably get the guns illegally, regardless. But let’s target the ones who, as in the case of Sandy Hook and the Aurora movie theater shootings, were not criminals until they pulled the trigger in those mass killings. Maybe those shooters would not have broken the law to obtain guns. Maybe they would have tried to use explosives. Nobody knows for sure. But it’s tough to argue that attempting to limit access to weapons for people who shouldn’t have them makes some sense. Whereas limiting everyones’ access in order to try and achieve that does not, and has more downsides to it.

Again, this plan might be somewhat flawed and tough to enforce and it won’t completely solve the problem but there is no single action that we can take to solve it. I would think it would be more effective than most of the legislation that is being talked about at the moment. Combine that with other efforts and we just might have something to work with. Especially more efforts on helping our mentally ill get the care they need – and not just the mentally ill, focus more on how to ensure our kids get the help they need in their developing years so that they’re not psychopaths by the time they hit adulthood. I don’t think banning guns or magazine sizes will do much to help the problem.

I have no problem allowing the good guys who want to own guns to stock pile to their heart’s content. But I would like those who are passionate in the gun culture to help come up with more solutions that go beyond arming more people. I would like to see more ideas on how we can try to limit the access for people who we can agree likely shouldn’t have guns. There has got to be something that we can try on that front. In my opinion, as long as the pro-guns group only focuses solely on the argument that arming more people is the only answer, without coming up with ideas on limiting access to the mentally unstable, it will only hurt their cause – and that’s me trying to look at the debate from as neutral a perspective as possible… being a scared father who is neither passionately for or against guns.

Just started Hard Magic and was amused by your references to El Nido as I live in nearby Atwater, CA! You are quite an interesting man and I look forward to reading your work. I started a crime scene investigative novel a few years ago situated in a fictitious town near Merced. Who knew this area could draw such interest!

I’ve been brainstorming lately on what schools could do to improve students survivability in the case of an intrusion. I’m labeling them “intrusion drills”.

The goal of the intrusion drills is firstly to get the students into a more secure location on the school premises or away from the area as safely, quietly, and efficiently as possible, Secondary goal is to impede,delay, neutralize and/or entrap the intruder until authorities can arrive at scene.

1. Intrusion alarms will be placed throughout the building and in main offices/security offices. These alarms will sound differently than fire alarms to avoid confusion. These alarms will immediately alert proper authorities, alert teachers/staff members to start enacting the intrusion drill procedures to a secure location, and alert bus operators to dispatch buses to the school asap to get the students away from the area.. Security doors would also shut just like in fire drills to impede and slow down the intruders(s).

2. “Emergency/intrusion” doors and hatches/trap doors w/ stairs would placed throughout the classrooms/building and synchronized in a fashion to allow quick & easy escape for students to get out of the class rooms/building in multiple directions and into a secure location or onto buses for departure or onto the rooftops or basements or other secure areas.. Multiple doors/hatches will allow the students/teacher to escape to other rooms both on the same floor or floors above/below.

–>Teachers would be trained to immediately lock the “main” doors into the classrooms once students have emptied the hallways into a classroom and then proceed to use the “emergency”doors for escape, teachers would have access to protective gear (vests/shields) in one of the closets/whatever, and take the back & lead positions of the escape lines and utilize green/light red signals/flags to help coordinate students escape routes through the various emergency doors/exits. Emergency doors would come with “peep” hole to allow teachers to view the room ahead to see if it is safe, if not the emergency doors would be bullet resistant and could be closed/locked off and teachers would instruct the students to go to a different emergency pathway. Students would be instructed to stay low and move quickly/quietly as possible.

–>Emergency doors being opened would also trigger the intrusion alarms just like fire exits do. The emergency doors could also come with green/red lights to help coordinate from a secure office as well if the school has a camera/security system.

3. “Protective” rooms and hiding places could also be provided to give students further hiding places if they can’t escape.

3. Security and qualified personnel would have access to a intruder weapon cache of lethal/non-lethal items* and protective gear. their main purpose here would be to slow down/impede the intruders from getting to the students/teachers and to isolate/neutralize the intruder(s) as best they can until authorities can arrive to the scene and/or the students escape or are secured.

* lethal/non-lethal items being present on school campuses can be voted on among the various state/local school districts. If a state is a concealed carry state they could vote to allow that element to be implemented into the school security plans as well.

4. Parents could also take further measures if they wish via kevlar backpacks/gear etc.. Schools could also option to acquire those type of items for classrooms as well.

So basically for an intruder(s) to be successful in hurting students they would have to bypass whatever exterior regulations/bans that exist > break into the school > continuously break down and open doors > avoid defensive deterrents from security personnel > find & locate the students/teachers in the various classrooms/floors> get passed locked emergency doors & teachers with vests/shields> all before the students/teachers manage to escape through the various exits or before the authorities arrive.

I’m open to suggestion as I’m sure my ideas will have holes in it.
Ideas like these might be costly in the short run , but I think it would be worth it for the long-term.
Schools have fire-threat, bomb-threat, and natural disaster procedures I think it’s time they looked into school shooting procedures as well.

For the newton case: from my understanding adam gained access to the school via shooting out a window, The intrusion procedures would have triggered as soon as he broke the window.

also: I think to help fund these drills I think we should use some of our almost trillion dollar defense budget to help fund it, that way burden isn’t solely placed on the education sector. After all, what’s the point in fighting around the world if we’re not doing our best to keep our kids safe at schools/home?

Larry Correia – Yesterday when I mentioned the effort to educate Northeast Senators and Congressmen, J. Cramer gave me a copy of an “Opinion on Gun Control.” The Struggle continues… with your help.
Thank you, T. Patch

Hi Larry,
You may (or may not) remember me from Humongous Maniac Group in SLC. I worked in the Engineering and Marketing Departments and I remember you talking with a number of us about guns. My son (now 12 years old) has recently gotten into guns thanks to Top Shot and Sons of Guns so we now regularly go to the range and spend time out in the desert plinking. Anyway, I’ve seen some of your 2nd Amendment stuff here and on Facebook and am in the process of reading MHI. Just kinda wanted to reconnect.

Larry, Your recent gun control piece was flawless except for one minor unrelated point. You took a quick swipe at the much-maligned Patriot Act, but the fact of the matter is that the only NEW thing contained within the PA was the removal of info swapping restrictions imposed on the FBI and CIA. The other controversial sections of the PA were merely re-codifications of provisions passed years earlier under the Carter and Clinton administrations.

I found your blog because someone posted your gun article on their blog. You’re on point! What can I say, I grew up much the same, and my husband and I are raising our kids (all five of them) with a love of our country, a respect for guns (and bows and knives…..) and to raise to cute fluffy bunnies, goats, and cows, and to eat them too! They certainly don’t shy away from that. I grew up with a love of books, always had my nose in them and look forward to reading yours. My brother proudly serves our country as a Marine (also loves books and guns and well…all that cool stuff) and I will definitely be passing your blog along to him. Thank you for sharing with us.

I just discovered your site from a link to your great gun control article. I’m currently reading The Monster Hunters 3-in-1 novel and enjoying. Have you ever read L. Ron Hubbard’s Mission Earth series?

Larry, while I wait for your next MH novel (or any of the others) I wanted to make a VERY small suggestion. Get Z’s Abomintatin damaged and have Milo replace it with an AA12 with the 32 round drum. I think he would like it better, not to mention the standard 123 gauge shell that fires either AP, HE or Frangible.

Dear Sir; My son just passed onto me a 45 page document that you wrote, “An Opinion on gun control” I thought your writing was excellent and I will be sure to use it in many of my own FB posts. I will no doubt pass it onto some friends that still do not understand what guns are all about, but are quick to point out they do own one. REALLY and you want them banned? (yea I had to shake my head on that one). Anyways, with your permission I would like to post this, and it could be a BLOG or maybe just a quick web site that I put up. OR, if you already have this document on your page would you send me the URL. I will certainly post that information. Again, thank you for a very well written document (LONG FOR SURE) BUT, still worth the time to read.

I’m writing to see if you’d consider being a panelist at Weber State University on the issue of gun control. The session is scheduled for sometime in March, but we’re still working out the particulars. So far, our speakers are exclusively anti gun/pro gun control and I’m pressing the committee for a more balanced debate. As the only pro gun/anti-gun control member of the committee, I’ve been tasked with finding qualified panelists who share my views. After reading your piece on gun control, I feel you’d be the perfect person to share an articulate and well-informed opposing view. If you have an interest, it would be great to have you participate.

It would all depend on my available time, which there isn’t much. If I need to choose between getting paid to write stuff, or getting dog piled by a bunch of elitist college professors who insta-win because they can cite a study conducted by Mother Jones or Salon and I can only fall back on stupid non-academic things like how stuff actually works on Earth, I’m going to go with the getting paid option. 🙂

Mr. Correia,
An avid audio-booker (my job gets me a lot of windshield time), I downloaded MHI today. I’m in Chapter 5 and hooked. I’ve read a LOT of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and military novels in my 4 decades and I love how you pull it all together in one glorious stew with a nice seasoning of dark humor sprinkled over the whole thing. I don’t typically comment to the authors of novels and other works I like, but yours has struck a note with me. That- and finding out you are also an addict to the smell of freshly burned gunpowder- inspired me to drop a note.
As to the “that”- I don’t know if you’ve ever done any table top role-playing (Dungeons and Dragons type stuff) but way back in 1996 my then brother-in-law and I sat down and created an RPG named Apokillypse. Originally it was only for the purpose of taking all the aspects of other RPGs that we enjoyed and re-inventing the core rules into something that would not take 2 hours just to have a simple firefight. Now, all these years later Apokillypse has evolved into something more. We played it a few times at a local gaming convention in Roanoke called Shevacon and, to keep the story short, we now are allowed free entry into the ‘con due to the number of people who pay to get in only to play our game. Why do they do this, you ask? Simple- because it’s a ton of fun, aaaaand we are way too lazy to actually publish the thing so it’s really the only place they can play. Please excuse the lengthy bragging of a proud “father”.
The reason I bore you with all this is the nature of our game. In a nutshell it is Biblically based around a war between Heaven and Hell being waged on Earth for souls. The players in the game are typically normal folks who have seen or been involved in something they cannot explain- who are then approached by the Celestial order and offered a position fighting evil. The “Inferals” they fight are Warlocks, Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, and the occasional Demon. Now- while the similarities are obvious between our game and your novels, it’s not as though the concept hasn’t been explored before- but what really got me was that in our game you can choose to one of two types of characters: Exorcists, who are gifted with “Works of Faith” (we didn’t want to use “magic” in reference to the good guys) that throw lightning bolts, can sprout angelic wings, heal, and such and for those more into the “dirty work” our warrior class- the Harbinger.
I don’t expect you to be aghast with shock- but it was just interesting enough to share.
Thank you for your works- which I am sure I will be enjoying for hundreds of miles.

I came out of my nerd closet in the last ten years or so (once you have kids, there’s just no faking it). I now own my infatuation with fantasy escapism and I put myself to sleep ever night developing characters and writing little stories in my head. I have to tell you – I just read “Hard Magic” on a lark and it was everything I always hoped to be able to convey in a story. It took me to that same wonderful place that I would so frequently meander into as a child, yet has become damningly elusive as an adult. With that book you have earned a fan for life – I am palpably excited to read your other works!
Fiction books, as I read them now, tend to be not much more than a pleasant escapism. Your book, however, was a splendid gift. I don’t know if you’ve blogged about this previously, but if you have suggestions of other authors who mesh well with what you’ve done in “Hard Magic,” I would love to know who they are.

Had to tell you I met your doppelganger this morning. Totally freaked me out for a heartbeat, until I realized that you wouldn’t be moonlighting as a contractor working for the company that’s installing my flooring and cabinets. ;D

Just got my hands on a buy 2 get 1 free set of the MHI books and I might get fired for spending too much time reading them instead of working. You are now on my short list of authors that I read everything they write. Micheal Z williams, John Ringo and you. Thanks man

Larry,
been an MHI fan since I first heard about and then read it. I have been reading everything of yours I can find. Anyway I ran across this photo on the internet tonight after reading the statement made by York Arms regarding the cancellation of law enforcement and goevernment orders until civillians are allowed to purchase their products. This is in the galleryhttp://www.yorkarms.com/images/ds_g.jpg

I’m LDS as well, and I had a non-member friend recommend MHI to me. I love it! Epically awesome. Gheesh, it didn’t hit me until Milo said he was a Mormon that I decided to actually look you up. Thumbs up man! I’m an inspiring author on the fantasy level, and just knowing that there are other members out there just inspires me more. Especially those who take guns at heart! Love your work!

Thank-you for your work. Life is tough, work, family,responsilities . Your books have transported me to a place away from everything where I can hang with the coolest bunch of people. Makes a difference. I lived in Arizona for 7 years now in New York…culture shock much…got my CCW in AZ…feel like a minority of one here. But trying to talk sense into folk one at a time. Thanks again for putting yourself out as author, firearms expert, family guy, regular guy..keep up the good work..look forward to my next “my time” with MHI or Jake and the crew, Cheers GJO

Great, great book…just listening to Monster Hunters International right now. My husband has been bugging me to read this for quite some time and I really, really love it! I am now at the point where I realized I shouldn’t have become quite so attached to some. Can’t wait to read more! You actually make fight scenes interesting which usually kind of bore me. Great job! Keep them coming and we’ll keep buying them and recommending them to friends!
Thank you,
Lisa Conner

Wow! Similar story to mine, 4-H’er (horses, rabbits, chickens & 1 dairy calf), college, married, computer programmer, started business & had child, then changes in industry, so became accountant. But not satisfying since I love programming. Learned Web design, but too busy earning $ accounting to spend time on it. Started a QuickBooks business, but never made enough, so took another accounting job in addition to self-employment. Laid off and now learning Android app development, while I look for work & make a few $ in business.

You are brave to follow your dreams! I will probably have to take the first accounting job that comes along.

Greetings from the D’verse Larry! Finally got around to reading this and you really ought to think about turning your married college years into a Lifetime movie. Funny stuff. The bookstore job nearly made me spit take my coffee onto the screen as I worked for a bookseller one summer and operated the “magic machines” that turned a used book back into a new book. I’m still amazed no one got arrested for fraud.

I really enjoyed reading about how you got to be where you are! Love your books… my husband recommended that I listen to them while I work. I have no idea how he listens and works… about 5 mins in I zone out and an hour later I realize I’m no longer being productive but completely entranced with what I am listening to. That being said it’s a wonderful distraction 🙂

Mr. Correia, I’d love to know what your favorites books are. You mention a few that inspired you in this ‘About Me’ article, but I’d love more recommendations. It would also be great to see you get active on goodreads.com or even add book reviews to your own blog. I don’t see why you don’t already, I’m sure writing three series at once doesn’t keep you busy at all….

I would be interested in particular to know if there are any space sci-fi books (my favorite genre) you are fond of. I read something quite a while back about you and John Ringo teaming up, I was hoping that would turn into a space book, but never heard anything else about it.

I was reading a Scott Sigler book the other day and thought “I bet this guy and Larry Correia would get along”, I don’t know the guy’s politics though.

Thanks for the bio – nearly as interesting as MHI series. I love your books. When do we get the sequel to MHI Legion? Surely we can’t leave Jason Lacoco hanging out there in the universe????
Your other series are great as well, but MHI has really saved my bacon on the audiobooks… Thanks again for your efforts.
Pat

I just wanted to let you know I’m a huge fan of the “Spellbound” series. I started with the MHI series and was hooked. I loved the way the characters took shape almost immediately. I think we all know someone like the characters you describe.

I had a cross-country driving trip and was grateful. I bought the audio books and I can’t tell you how many lives you saved. Mine and others. 🙂 I was in no hurry to get anywhere and wanted to stay in the car as long as possible to get to the next chapter so the guy who cut me off didn’t bother me nearly as much as he would have if your story wasn’t keeping me wanting more!

However with “Spellbound” I truly was, well, spellbound. In the MHI series there seemed to be a lot of anger. “Spellbound” pulls back that anger a little and the characters concentrate on the right thing to do. (Plus, I love a little revenge in my justice.)

I’m sick and tired of these monster books that are about teenagers in love and their teenaged angst. Monsters are monsters. They may have personalities and lives but I don’t think they think they want to ‘share their feelings’ with each other. By the way, the part in “Spellbound” when Jake asks the Iron Guard if he’s going to say ‘Thank you’ for saving his life and the Iron Guard asks if he wants to have tea and discuss their feelings too. I literally laughed out loud.

I don’t own any guns but found your descriptions complete enough that I didn’t need to. I got a good idea of the firepower the characters were packing. Reading your blog I realize many of your reader do own guns. I personally have never felt the need for one but I agree with many on gun-control. While I don’t think it is some great conspiracy I REALLY don’t like the idea of gun-control. When will the government realize that any kind of prohibition doesn’t work. A kitchen knife can be as dangerous as any gun. Are we all going to have to start using plastic butter knives soon?

Now the part that I think will make some of the readers of this blog a little crazy. First off let me say I love action movies, I don’t wear designer clothes and I’m a gay man. I don’t know what your personal beliefs are but I wish you’d throw in some reference to one of the good guys being gay. Maybe you could work it in the same way you did with Jake and Deliah in the first series. The characters don’t have to be some ‘nancy’ guys who want to do each others hair.

“Faye checked her head map. She didn’t understand. Mr. *** and Mr. *** were in the same bed. There were plenty of other rooms in the house. Why were they sharing the same bedroom? She’d have to think about that later.”

I know this would rub some of your readers the wrong way but I’d really love a character that didn’t flounce around and seem helpless. Someone who carried a gun and knew how to use it.

I’m really excited about the new book and can’t wait to get my audible order in. Thanks for making my driving a little safer!

Flat feet:
If your feet are that flat, I suspect that you walk with your toes pointed at a significant angle from straight ahead. That will eventually mess with your knees and hips. As they say in the gym, it is all about form. It took a guy about your size three months of thinking about it daily to walk with his toes pointed straight ahead. He said that he no longer has lower leg pains.
The other thing about flat feet is foot pronation (rotation about the axis from heel to middle toe). My solution is to go out in the field and find a burr. Tape it to the insole where your arch is supposed to be. Then pronate your foot away from that burr. The burr doesn’t hurt; it is just a reminder to pronate your foot outward, away from the burr. When you push off, walking or running, you should feel even pressure from the outside edge of your foot to the ball of your foot. The result is a healthy foot.

Hi Larry. I’ve become a new fan of yours since my girlfriend recommended I read MHI after she saw an interview with you about writing on Youtube. Little did I know I was already a fan of yours after you made that fantastic appearance on Fox News about why “assault weapons” should not be banned. I also saw your blog post on the same thing being passed around Facebook. I just didn’t know all three of these were you.

I don’t think you could have picked a better opening sentence for MHI and that totally set the tone for the story (which makes me think Call of Duty meets Buffy). Your fight scenes are also fantastically written. Most fight scenes in other novels I’ve read are blandly written in my opinion. I’m currently well into book 2 and I’m continuing to enjoy the ride. Keep up the good work because I want you taking up plenty of space on my bookshelf at home.

What is Happening: Malicious hackers leverage sensational events (such as key news stories, scandals, etc.) to take advantage of people accessing websites to seek additional information. Information systems are being infected from malware and spyware piggybacking on downloaded documents (the current attack is occurring via a Java application).

********************************************************************************
Apparently if we read ANY news release on a public news website it will cause MALWARE/VIRUS attacks on NASA’s network…

Larry juat wanted to say thanks for the MHI series, my Wife and I are big fans! Here’s a pic just to show our geek-attude 🙂
[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/JTLflutes/2013-07-10_11-27-37_954.jpg[/IMG]

Love yer books!! I have a question for you involving the mhi name and logo. I work at the Niles haunted house on the hayride. Which is one of the top hh’s in the nation. A group of friends and I want to dress like characters from the books. We were wondering if we can use the smiley face with horns and the mhi name. I would love to hear from you. I know this is for comments but I could not find a email. Thanks..ry

I love your books man!! My now wife got me hooked on em while we were dating. I passed them on to a bunch of friends and they love them as well! We all work at the Niles haunted house in Michigan, on the haunted hayride. This years theme is phobias and we as a group were wondering if we could go as people from mhi? We would like to use the patches on our “armor” and the name. I just wanted to check with you first because I wasn’t sure of copyright or anything

Just finished Warbound, absolutely loved it. I discovered the Grimnoire Chronicles about this time last year, just in time to join the wait for the third installment. I hope you keep up the great work, I’ve never had a book work me over in the ways yours constantly do. I found myself generally lamenting having to stop in between chapters for less important things, like sleeping, eating, working. By the way, loved the shout out to superman (if it was intentional).
On a separate note, I have read some of your posts on political topics, and while I don’t always agree with your views, I’d like to commend you on making well thought out points and not stooping to mud slinging. All too often in the current climate people just end up shouting over eachother but never making a valid point.
Anyways, love the books, keep writing, and hope everything goes your way at every turn.

I just finished MH Legion and loved it (as I have loved all of the MHI books). I read the first one around the beginning of June and couldn’t stop. All of them are great reads. It looks like I will pick up the Grimnoir Chronicles next. When will the next MHI book be released? Has it been announced yet?
Keep up the awesome work!

I am sure you get asked this a BUNCH of times, but since I have scanned, scoured, and deftly searched among the MANY references in the web, it requires asking: do you intend to write anymore grimnoir chronicles? I am 3/4 of the way through spellbound, so the answer (and thus a form of absolution) may be going there. I know you have other MHI books planned, but hey, can’t hurt to ask 🙂

Finished the Grimnior Chronicles last night. Completely loved them. I will be sure to spread the word among my crew about it. Have you thought about having that universe converted into a game? ( since I know your a gamer. ) It would work very well. Keep up the good work!

Well am been reading some of your books, monster hunter international and legion. I love it and also heard about your movie deal can’t wait to see it and I can’t wait to see Ben Affleck play as earl its going to be awesome!!!

Hey Larry. I knew you when you and Bridget lived in the Logan University 41st Ward with Bishop Fowles. I think you were a gospel doctrine teacher. I remembered that story about the gang bangers. I think I was even Bridget’s VT for a time. I remember when your first baby was born. That is so crazy that you have become an author. So cool. I actually want to do that myself but haven’t had time to finish anything yet. I have been working mostly on picture books. That is so great that you’ve made it. I haven’t read any of your stuff yet. Can’t wait to read it.

Just finished the first Monster Hunter, after reading the first two Grimnoir books. Love them. Love the gun “nut” (in a positive way – like me) and the detail on the weapons. I’ve got you on my favorite author list. Thanks for the entertainment.

You are a bad bad man! I bought the 4 Monster Hunter audiobooks and finished them in 5 days. Now I have the Monster Hunter shakes. More! Need more!

I too live in Utah. When you said Milo was Mormon, I had a suspicion that you might live in Utah. Lo and behold, I was right. You’re the fifth Utah fantasy author I have come across and a new addition to my reading addiction. Why do you think many authors seem to come from here?

The main reason Utah has so many pro writers, way out of proportion to the population, is a tough question. I think the biggest single reason is that the best creative writing college instructor in the history of creative writing classes was at BYU for a long time. Dave Wolverton has had like 200 of his students go on to be professional writers. (most college creative writing classes are utter crap). Though I’m not one of those, as I went to USU, and didn’t meet Dave until after I already had sold some books. But a lot of the other writers my age were his students.

I picked up Monster Hunter International on a whim. Seriously a completely random purchase in the middle of August. When I got to chapter 3, I think I had to reread the “..born in Merced California” line 3 times to get it to sink in. Completely awesome for someone who grew up in Atwater and just completely unexpected. All my really good friends when to Merced High. I graduated in 88 so it was before your time and yes (from reading your bio) Merced/Atwater when downhill when the base closed. My brother works for the DA in Merced so I had to tell him about your books. He originally got me interested in reading the Garrett series by Glen Cook. Since I loved your book so much I bought the rest without hesitation and read them all (I even got the books on Audible.com to listen to while driving). I am so looking forward to the next one. Thanks Larry keep up the good work!

Thanks for another witty post! (That is, “The Internet Arguing Checklist.”) My husband introduced me to your books, and I enjoyed the first three Monster Hunter ones immensely. At the time we were reading them, I remember referring to them fondly as “brain candy.” It had been a while since I was so entertained by a book. Also, I started reading them a couple years after entering the gun culture so it was fun to hear references to so many firearms I knew about.

That said, it is always disappointing to me to run across vulgar language. I am used to associating those kinds of bad words with folks who have extremely tiny vocabularies and resort to the same adjective to describe everything. You do certainly employ these words more cleverly, but it still bothers me. My husband mentioned that you are a L’Amour fan too. He had plenty of swashbuckling with a tasteful use of language.

I understand this note is not likely to change your mind, but I just wanted you to know first how much I have enjoyed your books (Especially Alpha after reading the first two. That was a fun ride!) and second that your writing could be even better if it was cleaner.

I make my living using words to convey a message with maximum effect. Words are just tools in a tool box. Sometimes profanity is the best tool. You use tools specific to your audience. I reach a rather large audience using my methods. It isn’t for everyone. Different tools for different authors with different messages. It is that simple.

Having kids- I try to “watch my language”. I don’t want to say (or do) things that I don’t want them too. With that said- we are talking about a story about a group of para-military individuals that kill monsters for a living. While the setting is radically fictional (durnit) Mr. Correia does an exceptional job of making feel real. This is just one of the reasons everything he’s written is, IMHO, an absolute joy to read. With THAT said- anyone who has served in a military unit will tell you vulgar language is a large part of the vernacular. It took me months after leaving the Army to get my vocabulary back down to a PG rating (I’ll never forget the first- and last- time I dropped an “F-bomb” in front of my Grandmother). The point I’m trying to make is this; without the characters in the book speaking the way they do, it simply wouldn’t feel… right. It would be like watching a slasher movie where they didn’t use fake blood. I refrained from letting my boys read the books until they were of an age where I felt they could separate not only fantasy and reality, but also understand that what is appropriate in a fictional story isn’t necessarily so in life. They enjoyed them as much as I, and so far haven’t started cursing like sailors (although they do wish at least the zombies were real…). I’m not dismissing Johannah’s desire to “keep it clean” but honestly- are a few curse words more offensive than colorfully described acts of death, dismemberment, and high-caliber perforation?

High caliber perforation! That’s great. I never told my kids to never use foul language – only to save it for appropriate situations. If you use the F word ten times a day, what are you going to say when you slice off a thumb? Casual use of extreme language only makes one sound vulgar and unimaginative. I point out, too, that such words only have power when they are NOT used commonly. If *I* were to use the F word, everyone in the vicinity would run for their weapons and silver munitions because surely there would be a vampire or something equally dire in the room.

Hilarious! I actually had to invent a word for in front of my Stepmother… “Helck.” It started out as H-E double toothpicks, and gradually became heck all at the same time. (Needless to say, I used it a lot around her bless her soul.) Thanks for shaking loose that memory, Mike!

I know you’re a busy man, and I don’t want to give you any reading assignments…

That said, you’re also out there fighting the good fight on the idiocy of gun control and I want to give you additional ammunition.

Whenever *I* argue with someone and they raise the issue of The Place Where Great Britain Used to Be™, I usually object on the grounds of:

(1) you keep telling us you “don’t want to take our guns”, but the places you point out as gun-control successes are all places where they’ve *taken* the guns,
(2) the number of guns here is *three orders of magnitude* larger than existed in the UK and Oz pre-disarmament, and;
(3) murder aside, the UK is a remarkably violent place (in frequency of criminal thug-citizen interaction).

I often get so worked up, I forget the most fun UK homicide fact of all: the actual murder rate in UK is probably twice that reported, and may be higher.

Leaving aside the fact that the politicians that run most large police agencies routinely “cook” their numbers, this knocks a big ol’ hole in the “peaceful, gun-free UK”.

If you’ve seen this, forgive me (the sources are obscure) but the next time someone brings up the UK’s low, low murder rate, you can share the following (I think that last one is what they call a “primary source”).

You are one of my most favorite authors. I loved the first three books of the Monster Hunter Series and I am reading the fourth at the moment and it is great so far. I am looking forward to more Monster Hunter books.

You are one of my favorite authors tied only with Jim Butcher and that just depends on which of you as recently put out a novel 🙂

Reading over your bio here really makes me want to try my hand at writing again. I have been in the same field for the last 12 years or so and honestly I’m getting bored and need to try something new. Any advice you could give me would be greatly apreciated.

I also really enjoyed your write up on gun control and have passed it around to number of friends. I have to say I agree with it completely.

In closing keep up the good work and get me another Monster Hunter novel, I am in withdrawl.

Let’s hope to all the merciful and benevolent gods that Butcher never makes the mistake of going political on us. I’d hate for that to happen, and find out I regret ever having given him any of my money.

Weird but true story: I just started listening to your books on audible about a year ago and was hooked pretty quickly. It started innocently enough by taking a gamble on Hard Magic, but escalated into a full addiction until I’d finished them all. Some twice. That’s not the weird part. Creepy maybe, but not weird.
No, the weird part started when I jumped on a plane in Dallas and flew half way across the country for work. After meeting up with one of my engineers at the airport, we start a long drive to Pocatello. Both of us are starving and we plot a route to some chain restaurant that popped up on the rental car GPS. But right before we reached it, I spotted a steakhouse I’ve eaten at in other states and decided on a whim to eat there instead.
I order, look up and who do I see eating a few tables away? Larry Correia and his missus.
Larry, sorry for interrupting you and your wife’s dinner and thanks for being cool about it. Ya’ll seem like great folks and it was a real treat to meet you both.
I’m still scratching my head over the randomness of it, though.

I like to ride a bike, but on occasion I’ve had to lecture (w/o beer bottles) LDS “elders” that they really ought to stay off the sidewalks, ride with traffic, obey stop signs and traffic lights, and generally ride like they were subject to the traffic laws. Yes, plenty of other idiots on bikes ride like salmon and blast through stop signs, but they aren’t representing an often misunderstood organization, and wearing @#$%^& nametags.

I’ve got a website suggestion, but didn’t see a place to post it. Feel free to delete this comment after you read it. Brandon Sanderson’s blog has this sweet little 0-100% meter with a list of novels he’s working on. I’d love to be able to pop over to your site and be able to see at a glance how the next monster hunter book is coming along.

So I stumbled across the MHI series as recommendation on a gun forum. Good stuff, man. Very good stuff. Of course I read until two in the morning last two nights after putting the kids to bed and am surviving on coffee to get me through the day. I feel like microwaved dog crap from the sleep deficit but, hey, its a small sacrifice to find a good book series!

Had a moment of clarity between shower and getting dressed this AM: Scalzi’s Leon Deak (the fat, Christian, brown-people-hating CDF recruit who reports for duty, but dies of a heart attack before his consciousness can be transferred into a spiffy new genengineered body) is supposed to represent *me* (or people like me).

As penance, I pledge to buy at least three of your books for every one of his I’ve purchased, and spread the word.

Love your work! I listen to audio books because I have a really long commute and got MHI because I liked the title. Was hooked before the end of the first chapter. Oliver Wyman was a great choice for the narrator. Listened to the first 4 books then moved on to another book series knowing that it would be awhile until book 5 came out. I was going to listen to MHI again, but found Hard Magic. Awesome! Just finished Warbound, so you can go ahead a release MHI 5 now. No need to wait until next summer!!! Fine, I’ll wait. We accountants are generally patient bunch. I’ll just audit a few people to death!!! Happy writing :–)

Larry I need some advice. Im shopping for a commander sized carry gun in 9mm and I’d like your input on an STI Spartan vs a Kimber Pro Carry. I have a Kimber Custom II in 45 but Ive never handled an STI. Any thoughts?

Morning Larry,
A couple of things, first your books are awesome. Having served in the canadian army for the last 20 some years, your books have become a staple. Second excited about the upcoming Ringo/Correia book. Third gave your books to my 16 year old and he actually finished it.
Fourth just found out about your kickstarter project and was unable to add my pledge due to defense departments IT blocks, is there a way to order a couple of coins for myself. I have shown several of your Monster hunter series to several of the junior members of my troop, all of them think they were awesome. Being away from home is easier when you’ve got a couple of good books.
Keep up the good work and thanks alot.